Amber
by BlueTornado3275
Summary: Four months after the events of TAFAJ, Amber returns to Sodor to visit the Great Railway Show. Many old and new faces appear and Amber will have the time of her life. Danger arises when Diesel 10 and his small army of diesels try to crash the party. Amongst the chaos that surrounds her, Amber notices that something terrible is happening to the island. Can it be prevented?
1. Tatalia & Sam

Chapter 1: Tatalia & Sam

 **Hey Everyone! I'm back! Yeah, I know. It's been too long. I've been lazy and I just haven't been bothered. But now... It's time. My most anticipated story yet. Did you enjoy TAFAJ? Well it's finally time for its sequel.** _ **Amber!**_ **Without further ado, let's get started...**

 **Right after this authors note.**

 **Now you're probably wondering why I've up-ed the rating from K+ to T. The reason being that one of my new characters is a bit of a flirt. Let's just say that she'll do** **almost** **anything to get the guy she wants okay?**

 **Also I'm thinking of making this story another twelve chapters just because I want to keep on track (No pun intended.) and finish this story as quickly as I finished TAFAJ. Just because, you know. Motivation.**

 **Aside from that I think it's time to start because I feel that you're all glaring at me. Sorry. Anyway, let's begin (For real this time.)! Enjoy!**

 _Four Months. Has it really been four months? I've been really busy lately with my final year of school and I haven't had the chance to visit Sodor. The engines must miss me. Well. That's about to change. Little did I know that when I visited Sodor again, that it would be a fun trip than the last..._

I blinked and immediately regretted it. The sun was coming through the curtain and shining right in my face. I rolled onto my side and looked at my clock on my bedside table. It read 12:30. My eyes popped open wide.

"Crap! Why wasn't my alarm on? I'm late!" I jumped out of bed and raced down the stairs to the kitchen. I tripped on the third step and tumbled down the rest of the way. I lay at the bottom of the stairs all twisted up. Taylor was sitting at the bench giving me a funny look.

"You alright? You look as if you're running from a tornado."

"No. But I'm late for school!" Taylor laughed.

"Hey. Chill out miss graduate. You've got all the time in the world now. That is until you get a job."

Something in my head clicked.

"Oh. I graduated last night. Right."

Last night was exciting. I graduated alongside all my classmates and I don't have to worry about school again. Sweet. Taylor grinned.

"You're friend called while you were asleep. She said that she was going to meet you at the park so you could talk about something." By this time, I had untangled myself and was dusting myself off. I sighed.

"Was it Tat?"

"Yeah."

"Then she's most likely going to want to talk about guys." I grabbed an apple from the fruit basket and headed to the door. Taylor called out after me.

"You might want to change into something descent so you're not a laughing stock at the park." I glanced down and blushed. In my haste to get ready I had forgotten to change out of my pyjamas. Good save Taylor. Good save.

I went back upstairs to get changed. I grabbed several items of clothing and put them on. Once done, I was wearing a red sleeveless crop tank top, a light blue denim vest, a dark blue belt, black tracksuit pants and red basketball shoes with light blue tongue. I looked at myself in the mirror.

'Pretty good.' I glanced to my hair and sighed. I had let my hair grow out for no reason and now it was up to the middle of my back. I gave it a quick brush and then pulled it into a pony tail. Now I was ready to go.

...

I got to the park and locked my bike up in the bike rack. I wondered into the park and looked for Tat. Tat's real name is Tatalia, but she hates it. That's why I call her Tat. I met her during the finals of our Year 12 Talent Show. She and I were competing for the grand prize of some high-tech laptop. Taylor entered me because she wanted that. I played along and made it to the finals. Tat, who roller bladed on a portable ramp, made it too. I sung while she did tricks and stuff. In the end I won and we settled on a truce. She and I are best friends now. She also has this trait of hers that really gets on my nerves sometimes. And that just so happens to be...

I looked up and spotted a small group of guys standing around a familiar, busty young woman in a white T-shirt with black sleeves and (Her words not mine.) sexy leather pants. I groaned.

A giant flirt.

I walked up to the cluster and pushed through to the girl. Sure enough, it was Tat, pressed up against a muscular guy who was looking quite nervous.

"Are ya sure ya don't want to go on ah date man?" she was saying with a slight accent.

"I... uh... well..."

"Tat." Tat moved back from the guy when she saw me. She laughed nervously.

"Amber! Oh. Oops. Sorry boys, but ah have ah girlfriend to talk to at the moment. Catch ya all later!" she pushed me out of the group and walked to a park bench. She grinned sheepishly at me while I gave her a "Not happy Jan" face.

"Ah can't help it Amb's. Ah just go for it. Ah just want to find mah true love. Sorry." I sighed.

"There are plenty of fish out in the sea Tat. Why call me here if all you're going to do is flirt? You know I don't like you're flirting." Tat shrugged.

"Ah wanted to talk to you, an' then those nice looking boys came by an' ah couldn't help mah self." I sighed again.

"Yeah yeah. Heard that one before. So, what did you want to talk about?" Tat's face lit up when she remembered the reason why she called me here.

"Oh yeah. Ah read the story on the website that you told me about. On that Island that you visited. Sodor was it?" I grinned. After my first adventure I had made it into a story. I had published it onto a website that I went to regularly so many people could read about it.

"Yeah. What about it?"

"Ah really enjoyed it. But ah don't think anyone believed it." I frowned. I wasn't expecting anyone to believe it but it was still hurtful coming from Tat saying that she didn't believe it. I sighed.

"That's fine. It was just for fun anyway." Tat gave me a big grin.

"What do ya say we go an' get a Spider from Squizzles? That'll cheer ya right up." I grinned too.

"Great idea!"

...

Squizzles is an ice cream shop that Tat and I love going to. After locking our bikes up in the bike rack, we headed inside. The little bell on the inside of the door rang and a large man came out from the back. He grinned at the sight of us.

"Hey! Amber. Tat. What can I get you two fine ladies." I giggled. Big G was the owner of the store and he was a good friend of ours.

"Ah want the regular please."

"Me too."

"No problem. Two triple Squizzles Ice Cream Spiders coming up." He moved to the side to make them. He turned to me whilst doing so.

"Hey Amber. I read your story. Pretty good." I blushed.

"Thanks. It was fun to write." Big G pointed over our shoulders.

"Sammy over there can't seem to get enough of it. I think he's read it several times." I glanced back and saw a boy with brown hair sitting at one of the tables with a laptop open. He had his back to us but I could tell who it was right away. Tat saw him to and grinned.

"Hey Sam!" She walked over to Sam hugged him around the neck from behind. His cheeks flamed up as soon as he felt Tat's torso come into contact with him.

"Oh. H-h-hey Tat. H-h-how are y-y-you?" he was stuttering. I sighed.

"Tat. You're doing it again." Tat jumped back laughed sheepishly.

"Oops. Right. Sorry. Big bust can do wonders." Sam turned around and smiled to me with his blue eyes.

"Hey Amber. I didn't see you. How are you?"

"I'm fine. What are you looking at?" I pointed to his laptop. Sam gave a huge smile.

Before I continue I must tell you this. Sam is another one of my new friends. He is a huge Thomas and Friends fan, probably bigger than me. He can go on and on about it. So, brace yourself.

"I'mreadingyourstory. I'vereaditsomanytimesthatI'velosttrackofhowmanytimes..." Tat had enough.

"Hey! Slow down!" she reached over and hugged him front on this time. Sam's face was buried inside of Tat's bust. I could see his face go bright red. I rolled my eyes. Tat and I had met Sam not too long ago by accident. He wasn't watching where he was going and crashed into Tat. They ended up in a similar predicament to now. I could tell that he liked her as soon as he met her. Unfortunately Tat was oblivious to it and as of now he is still watching her from afar. While she finished school like me yesterday, he has two more years left to sit through which made it his Christmas holidays. Also I'm pretty sure that he is the only person who likes her for who she is and not how she looks. Flirt and all.

Big G laughed at Sam's predicament.

"You've sure got a way with these two ladies Sammy. Be thankful you have them as your friends. Hey Amber and Tat. Your Spiders are ready."

Tat, Sam and I talked for most of the day, mostly about my story. By the time we left Squizzles, the sun was going down. Tat turned to me. She put an arm around Sam's neck and pulled him towards her which lit his face up again.

"Ah'm going to take this one home. Ah'll see ya tomorrow Amb's?" I nodded. Tat grinned.

"See ya tomorrow then Amb's!" she turned around and let go of Sam. The two walked in the opposite direction from me as I jumped on my bike. I looked back and smiled.

"They'd make a cute couple." Big G told me as he locked the door to the shop. I nodded.

"They would. I gotta go. I'll see you tomorrow G." I started pedalling toward home. Big G waved to me as I turned the corner.

...

"So, what did Tat want to talk to you about?" Taylor had just gotten home from work as I walked into the apartment. I sighed.

"Just my story. She said that she enjoyed it but I don't think she believed it." Taylor shrugged.

"Oh well. Oh. I found this flyer by the buffers in the secret room just before when I went to get something. She handed me a flyer. I took it from her hand and looked over it. It was a colourful flyer. It had two engines coming toward the edge of the paper with a bright logo on the top of the page. This is what it said.

 _Fan of engines? Love competitions? Then come to this years..._

 _Great Railway Show!_

 _Only here can you find the fastest, the strongest, the well painted and the best shunters around. Held at the Killdane Shunting yards on the tenth of December. We hope to see you there!_

I read it several times over before putting it back on the kitchen bench.

"I'm going to go to it. It'll be a good excuse to go back." Taylor waved a finger at me.

"I'm coming too. You may as well bring Tat as well."

"And Sam."

"Who's Sam?"

"Another one of my friends."

"Ok. It's your place so I won't stop you on how many friends you bring."

I headed back up to my room after dinner with the flyer and plopped down on my bed. I texted Tat to pack her bags and come over to my place tomorrow. If she wanted to that is. I told her to get Sam to come too.

As I put my phone down I noticed that there was writing on the back of the flyer. I picked it up and read it.

 _Amber_

 _I'm going to assume you found this. I strongly urge you to come back. All of the engines haven't been the same since you left. Especially Thomas. He wants to go to the railway show but Sir Topham Hatt doesn't seem to see his eye level. If he doesn't end up going, he's going to need a friend. If you do come, I'll see you there._

 _Sincerely Lady/Raven_

 _PS: I see you smirking!_

I laughed at the last part. I lay back down on the bed as I thought about what could happen to me this time. My previous adventure was quite a fun one. I didn't know why, but I had a sick feeling in my stomach.

And I had every right too.

 **Done! So, what do you think? I saw the movie today and I decided that it would kill my motivation if I wrote my story like the movie. So I'm making up my own version. It will still have elements from the movie like the ****** and the *******. What? Did you think I'd spoil the movie? You'll have to see it for yourself. So please. Read, review, question me and enjoy. Also please take a look at the Poll on my profile. It's just a simple thing. See you all next chapter which will be titled: A New Adventure!**

 **Guest note: Hey Sam. Do you like your character? I had to make him a little bit older so that I could make him more understanding of Tat's actions (Just let me know if you don't like it. I'll try and find a way to fix it up.). I hope you like him!**


	2. A New Adventure

Chapter 2: A New Adventure

 **Hey everyone! Thanks for the reviews! I was thinking the other day that the story may have a slow start but I have something big for the Great Railway Show. Not saying anything else about it but I know I'll be fun. Anyway, let's get started! Enjoy chapter 2.**

I made sure I had closed the blind this morning so the sun didn't wake me up. Today though, something else woke me up.

My eyes opened when I felt something heavy hit my stomach.

"Come on Amb's! Ya called me here last night an' ya not up yet? Geez." I looked to the body atop of me and grinned.

"I didn't tell you to come here so early Tat. What are you doing here?"

"Amber. It's ten in the morning. We're all waiting on you at the moment." I looked to my side and saw Taylor leaning up on the door frame with Sam standing behind her bubbling over with excitement. I sighed.

"Ok. I'll get up." I pushed Tat off me and got up. After getting everyone out of the room, I got dressed and packed my suitcase. Once done I reopened the door. Everyone was still waiting. Tat had her arm wrapped around Sam who was blushing furiously and Taylor was rolling her eyes. She glanced to me and shrugged.

"Tat. Are you finished?" Tat looked to me and grinned.

"Ah'm ready to go. So, where are we going?"

"You said yesterday that you didn't believe my story. Correct?"

"Ah didn't say that. Ah just said that ah didn't think anyone else believed it."

"Well we're going to Sodor now." Tat blinked.

"What? But wasn't the portal that ya went through to get there in USA?" I walked to the bookshelf in my room and pulled the secret switch. The hatch in the roof opened and the ladder fell down. Tat and Sam stared at it with their mouths open.

"True. But Mr. C and Lady moved it to here so I could go to and from without spending lots of money on a ticket to Pennsylvania. I haven't been there in four months so it will be nice to go back for a change." I climbed up the ladder to the secret room. Tat and Sam were still amazed once they got into the room. Sam began to freak out.

"YOU HAVE AN ENTIRE SECRET ROOM DEDICATED TO THOMAS AND FRIENDS? I think I'm going to faint."

And he did.

Tat, Taylor and I all sweat-dropped. Tat bent down and slapped him lightly, but not too lightly, across the face. Sam stirred and woke up. I cleared my throat.

"Anyway, it's this." I pointed to the Buffers which were still sitting in the corner. They had a little bit of moss on them from not being used in a while. Sam was getting really excited now.

"It's the Magic Buffers! This is so cool!" I grabbed my bag and walked to the buffers.

"I'll meet you on the other side guys." I stepped into the range of the buffers and I heard the familiar bells and whistles.

 _Sodor_

I stepped into the small overgrown clearing. It was still covered in ivy and shrubs like last time. I stood to the side and waited for the others to come through. I listened to the birds and swaying of the trees. Soon the bells and whistles sounded again and Taylor popped out. She gasped at the site of the area.

"Wow. You weren't kidding when you said that this place was amazing." I grinned.

"No I wasn't."

After Tat and Sam appeared and we had to wake Sam up again, we followed the track toward the junction. Tat was walking behind me.

"Ya really were here before?"

"Yep. Alongside the guy of my dreams." This peaked Tat's interest.

"The guy of your dreams? I didn't realise you had a boyfriend Amb's." I blush when I realised that I hadn't told Tat about Matt. I sighed.

"I'll tell you about him later."

We finally reached the junction where I had almost been run over by Gordon. I sighed at the thought. We crossed the tracks toward the signal box.

I stepped on the final track when I felt it vibrate.

"Uh oh." I turned to the others as they slowly dawdled over.

"You guys might want to get out of the way quickly. There's a train coming!"

"What? Ah can't hear you over that rumbling." I glanced left and right and spotted a blue and a pink streamlined engines coming towards us.

"Shit. Hurry up!" I beckoned to them hurry up. They didn't get the clue. Sam however looked to his right and saw the engines coming toward them.

"Look out!" He quickly shoved Taylor and Tat over the last rail just in time. In doing so however, he tripped over the rail and knocked over Tat. The two streamlined engines raced passed at high speeds. I watched them go past before looking down to the other three. Taylor was gasping for air while Sam was on top of Tat's back. Tat grinned.

"Oh ya want to play it that way do ya?" she rolled over and pinned Sam down to the ground by sitting on him. She leaned over him and grinned. Sam was a bright red again.

"I-I-I was g-g-getting you o-o-out of t-t-the way o-o-of the t-t-train. S-s-sorry."

"All good. Ah'm just messing with ya. Thanks." Sam blushed a heavy red.

"Hey! I remember you!" we all turned to the signal box and I spotted the signalman standing on the balcony. He was shaking his head.

"Got lost hiking again? You really need to stop doing that. A squashed body is the last thing Sodor needs at the moment love." I laughed nervously.

"Sorry. It's just a habit." The signalman sighed.

"Well. It seems that you're in luck again. I can see that annoying Box Cab coming this way. You may be able to get a lift to Knapford again." Sam's heart rate speed up again.

"Annoying Box Cab…?"

Sure enough, a green and yellow Diesel Box Cab was racing towards the signal. He seemed very puffed out.

"That's the… last time I… challenge Caitlin and Conner… to a race. Phew." He rolled to a stop under the signal box. The signalman lent over the balcony.

"You just don't get it do you Philip? You can't beat the bigger engines to races." Philip pouted.

"One day I will." He looked towards us and smiled.

"Hello! What are you doing here?" That was when Sam lost it.

"ICANTBELIEVEIT! I'VEACTUALYMETAENGINEFROMSODOR!" Tat sighed.

"Don't mind this one. He's just very excitable. First time meeting one of ya." Philip laughed.

"I didn't realise I had a fan. Do you four need a lift?" I nodded.

"Yes please. Can you take us to Knapford?"

"No problem. I'll get you there in a flash. Hop on!"

…

Percy watched as Thomas angrily shunted trucks around in the yard. He was tempted to ask what was wrong but lately Thomas had rather upset. Whenever someone asked what was wrong he had gotten even more upset. He sighed. Surely he wouldn't get upset at is best friend.

"What's wrong Thomas?" Thomas weeshed angrily.

"Those big engines that are here for the Great Railway Show are just so full of themselves. They pushed me around when they got here and then expect me to take them to Killdane." Percy sighed.

"They all don't seem that bad. What about that well painted one? What was her name…?"

"Ashima."

"Yes. That's the one. She doesn't seem that bad."

"Oh so you call almost pushing me of the dock not bad?"

"No. But that was an accident. I'm saying that she isn't a bad engine. She pulled you back up." Thomas sighed.

"When the Great Railway Show rolls around I'll show them all. I will get to the show."

There was a honking noise coming from behind them. Philip screeched into the yard and grinned. Thomas rolled his eyes.

"So, how'd your race with Conner and Caitlin go Philip? Did you win?" Philip did the engine equivalent of a shrug.

"No. That doesn't matter though. It's how hard I tried. If you put your mind to something, you can do anything!"

It was then that Sam fell out of Philip. Percy cringed.

"Ooh. Are you alright?" Sam got up and dusted himself off before looking to the two engines. His breath caught in his throat.

"You're…" Philip sighed.

"Here we go again."

"YOU'RETHOMASANDPERCY! THISISINCREDIBLE! INEVERTHOUGHTI'DGETTOMEETYOUIN…"

"TACKLE!" Tat flew out of Philip and tackled him to the ground. She glared at him.

"Sam. Please don't do this every time we meet another engine. It's getting old."

"Sorry." He squeaked.

Taylor jumped out as well and looked to the two.

"Sorry. He's always like this. Say Philip. Why'd you drop us off here?" Thomas grumbled.

"Well I have work to do. I'll see you later Percy." Thomas headed towards Knapford junction with a line of trucks behind him.

"So you're not going to stick around for the surprise?"

You should have seen how quickly Thomas stopped. The trucks complained but Thomas backed up to Philip. I was the last to jump out. Thomas' eyes nearly popped out of his head.

"AMBER?!"

"Hiya Thomas. Long-time no see."

…

To say word spread quickly was an understatement. It spread like wildfire. It got as high as the Culdee Fell Railway, as low as the Small Railway, as far as Vicarstown and as near as Sir Topham Hatt's office. Topham came out of his office to see what all the noise was about. To say he was surprised was also an understatement.

"Miss McLeo! What a surprise. What brings you here?" I smiled.

"Just the Great Railway Show sir. I got a flyer from Raven." Topham shrugged.

"Actually, she goes by Lady again. Something about original colours? And also, she's been gone for some time now. I haven't seen here since the runaway incident." As he spoke Sidney rolled by with a train of scrap.

"Runaway incident?"

"You don't want to know."

…

Sidney rolled into the Dieselworks with the train. He stopped by the turntable and pushed some of his trucks onto it. Diesel growled.

"Sidney. What took you so long?"

"I… uh… I… um…"

"You forgot again didn't you?"

"Did you say something Diesel?"

"Argh! Why do I bother? Do you remember anything?" Sidney blinked.

"What's a McLeo?"

"A what? Where'd you pick that one up?"

"I heard The Fat Controller say it to a girl."

There was a loud clanking coming from the crane above the two. Sidney looked up.

"Measle Ben. Why are you up there?" Above them was a familiar waterlogged engine with a claw on is roof. He growled.

"It's Diesel 10 Sidney. I know this may be a lot to ask but can you remember what she looked like?" Sidney screwed up his face.

"I think… she had red hair and… green eyes and… and… uh…"

"Spit it out Sidney!"

"Oh. Diesel. I brought the scrap parts you wanted!" Diesel sighed but Diesel 10 grinned wickedly.

"Red hair and green eyes? That's all I need to know. It's got to be Amber." Diesel gave Diesel 10 a strange look.

"Who?"

"I have a girl to catch! See ya boys!" Diesel 10 raced toward the door. Well, at least, he thought he was. He was still in the air. Diesel sighed again.

"You will get to see this girl soon enough, but for now you need repairs. Just wait." Diesel 10 gnashed his teeth.

"Mark my words Amber. I will finish what I started. Have your fun for now. I WILL RETURN!" Diesel 10's laughter rang out over the Dieselworks.

 **Done once more. Sorry for the wait for the chapter. I would have had it up on Sunday, but I didn't get the chance to finish it. Monday I left my USB in the computer. Tuesday I nearly finished it but I didn't and today I finally did. I don't know when the next chapter will be up so stay tuned. Read, Review, Question and Enjoy. See you next chapter!**


	3. The First Fissure

Chapter 3: The First Fissure

 **-Gunshots can be heard from all around. Bullet holes pepper a table. A head pokes over the top-**

 **Now, I know you may be angry…**

 **-More Gunshots. The head ducks behind the table again. There is a sigh-**

… **that I haven't been updating for a while. I'm really sorry. Can we be friends now?**

 **-Gunshots again-**

 **Look! I hate my motivation so much right now! It's stupid. Anyway, here's your chapter. Sorry again.**

After playing one hundred and one questions with Philip and Percy, I managed to slip away with Thomas toward his destination leaving Taylor, Tat and Sam to talk to them. Thomas was humming happily to himself as I looked around. The Mainline was decorated with banners and different decorations for the Great Railway Show. I gave Thomas a pat.

"How've you been since last time we met?" Thomas gave a small weesh.

"I've been fine. But this morning, when the big engines came here for the show, they pushed me around and called me names. And then they expected me to take them to Killdane." I sighed. Nobody likes bullies, especially me.

As we rounded a bend I heard a whistle that I hadn't heard before. A giant blue engine with a grey boiler sped past kicking up rocks. They pelted Thomas' side. I even copped a few in my side.

"Get out of the way shrimp! I got work to do!" Thomas coughed as dust went in his mouth. I, on the other hand…

"HEY! WATCH IT YA BIG BULLY!" Thomas cringed.

"Just leave it Amber. It doesn't matter. I can get a wash later…"

"It's not. Don't let him bully you. Seriously. I've had my fair share of bullies and they are no fun." Thomas sighed.

"Ok."

…

Thomas rattled through the tunnel to the Dieselworks. I shuddered at the thought of going there.

"Say… why are we going to the Dieselworks?"

"I've got parts that I need to deliver. You don't need to worry though. Diesel 10 was teleported away last time you were here, remember? I haven't seen him in ages."

"It's only been four months." Thomas did the equivalent of an engine shrug.

"Well, we'll be quick. I have to drop these off and then we can go." I shrank down into his cab as we rolled in. I spotted Diesel on the upper level. He was pitch black and he didn't look happy.

"Thomas! About time you got here. Den and Dart need them to fix up…"

"I'm just going to leave them here, ok? I have some other work to do, so… Yeah." Diesel raised an eyebrow.

"You seem jumpy. What's the rush?"

"I… err… Need to… Um… shunt some trucks… for… The Great Railway Show! Yeah." Inside his cab I face-palmed.

'Is that the best you could come up with?' Diesel chuckled.

"Maybe you're so jumpy because Diesel 10's back?" Thomas froze. As did I. That was the moment we heard a voice from the rafters.

"Damn right I'm back. If you think that you can hide stuff from me, think again." I glanced up and saw the oily pirate hanging from the roof by chains. He glared toward Thomas.

"Even if I found Lady, I still have a grudge against Amber. She outsmarted me and humiliated me so many times. I want revenge."

"I… Um… Well…" I decided that it was time to go and I yanked Thomas' "reverse" leaver. Thomas' wheels spun backwards and he rocketed backwards. Diesel and Diesel 10 watched confused as we disappeared. Diesel raised his eyebrow again.

"That was strange." Diesel 10 laughed.

"It feels good to strike fear into other engines again!" Diesel sighed.

"I'll go get Den and Dart. They'll get started straight away." As Diesel rolled out of the Dieselworks, Diesel 10 frowned.

"To think you got so close to me Amber. Next time, you won't be so lucky."

…

As Thomas rolled toward Killdane at a rapid pace, I gave a huge sigh of relief.

"That was way too close. Too close for my comfort." Thomas wheeshed in agreement.

I totally understand. I probably should have warned you where I was going before we left Knapford." We puffed along into Henry's Forest in silence for a little while. I was thinking of were to go next when there was a bang. Thomas braked hard, almost sending me into his fire again.

"Cinders and Ashes! What was that?" I poked my head out of the cab to look around.

"I thought that was something on you! If not, where the hell did it come from?" After a little bit of looking from the cab, Thomas spotted a small cloud of purple and black just over one of the little mounds off to the side of the tracks.

"There! I can't see the source though." I sighed before jumping out.

"I'll look. Wait here." I made my way into the forest and walked over the mound. What lay before me wasn't what I was expecting.

It looked like a small circle fissure. It was spewing out a purply-black smog into the air. It was an odd sight. I gave it a curious look.

"That's odd." It didn't seem to be doing any damage to the environment though. Still, I couldn't just leave it there spewing its smog all over the place. I looked around for something to plug it with. After looking around I spotted a nicely sized rock that would plug it perfectly. After a little bit of an almost comical struggle, I managed to roll it onto the fissure, almost stopping all the smog from coming out. There was still a little bit seeping out around the edges but it was significantly less than before. I wiped my brow with my arm and let out a sigh.

"Talk about odd. Why on earth would there be a fissure out here?"

With the fissure covered, I headed back to Thomas. Thomas was happy to see I was unhurt and smiled.

"All good?"

"Yeah. It's weird that there would be a fissure out here. Henry must not take care of his forest very well."

"A fissure? That is strange." He gave another smile before whistling loudly.

"Let's keep going. To the Great Railway Show grounds!"

…

We reached Killdane by lunch time. I was blown away by the sheer amount of gear and tents being set up around the junction. There was a large booth being hooked up to a pop-up radio tower, banners being hung around the place and international engines everywhere. I gasped with amazement. Thomas grinned like a madman.

"You see why I want to go to the show? This is something I don't want to miss out on!"

Thomas rattled by the judge's tent and rolled up alongside a small purple tank engine who was in the midst of telling a joke to some trucks.

"…said, "I know, but this is a no standing zone!" The trucks howled with laughter. The tank engine chuckled at his own joke. Thomas rolled his eyes.

"Aren't you supposed to be moving the trucks instead of telling them jokes?" The engine, Charlie, chuckled again.

"It's easier to move these suckers while they're laughing their axles off. You should try it sometime." Thomas thought for a moment before shrugging.

"Maybe if I knew any jokes."

"I've got plenty for you to use! Here. A horse walks into a bar…"

"Maybe later Charlie. I need to find The Fat Controller. Is he here anywhere?"

"I think he's over near track fourteen. Not sure though." Thomas whistled his thanks and headed off toward the centre of the showgrounds. We found him, The Flying Scotsman and a large red streamlined engine talking about the great race. We only caught the end of the conversation as we rolled up.

"…To finally finish at Knapford Station. Remember to race responsibly and not carelessly. We don't want an accident." Scotsman and who assumed was Axel, nodded.

"Yes sir!" As they headed off Topham called out after them.

"And let the other racers know too!" he sighed before turning to Thomas and myself, who had jumped out of his cab.

"Thomas! You've taken those parts to the Dieselworks, yes?" Thomas nodded.

"I have sir!" he then seemed to try and change the subject. "Sir. About the show…"

"We'll have to talk about it later Thomas. I have to go over to the radio booth and see how their getting along. For now, can you go and help Percy with his vans? He should be here by now. I need them put into the sidings near the stalls so that the store holders can start unpacking." Thomas sighed.

"Yes sir…" I gave a little sigh. I was guessing that he wanted to talk about a place in the show, but Topham seemed way too busy at the moment. I turned to Thomas.

"Come on. Let's go help Percy." Thomas gave a forced smile and agreed.

"Yeah…" I jumped in and gave him a pat.

"I'm sure you'll get to talk to him soon. Don't worry too much." Thomas gave a weesh before backing out of the siding to go and find Percy.

…

"Ah can't believe Amber just up and left us like that! And why are we helpin' with these!" Tat, Taylor and Sam had come into the showgrounds curtesy of Percy and were helping unload one of the vans. Sam had wondered off, still freaking out over all the engines around him. Taylor took the box that Tat was passing to her.

"Well she was on the island first. She has every right to go and say hello to her friends. It's been four months."

"But ah thought we were goin' to spend some quality girl time together."

"You two can do that back in England. We are here because Amber brought us along, not the other way around." Taylor said as Tat jumped down from the van.

"But-"

"No buts."

"Aww." There was a shout and the van Tat had just been standing in was shunted hardly by another van. It and its counterpart hit the buffers at the end of the siding with a bang. It didn't come off the rails thankfully. Tat went bug eyed when she realised what could have happened to her. She turned to Percy and a bigger light blue and yellow engine behind him. Taylor saw literal stream coming from Tat's ears.

"Watch it ya mooks! Ya nearly damaged this perfect body!" Percy blushed at that comment while the bigger engine chuckled sincerely.

"Sorry mate. I wasn't watching where I was going and bashed into this little fella. Sorry pal." Percy chuckled.

"I'm fine thanks. Didn't hurt me too much." The big engine laughed.

"You must be one of those tough blokes that can take anything to the buffers." Percy chuckled nervously.

Not everything…" The engine nodded.

"I'm Shane by the way. I'm the Australian representative for the show." Percy smiled.

"I'm Percy. Nice to meet you." Tat sighed.

"Whatever. At least we'd emptied out the van before ya mooks shunted it." Taylor chuckled. They then heard a whistle and Thomas rolled into the sidings.

"Percy. I'm here to help." Percy grinned to see his best friend.

"Great. I need to get some of these vans to siding 2, 3 and 4." Thomas nodded before Shane piped up.

"Here mate. Give me some and I'll take em' to siding 3." Percy smiled to his new friend.

"Sure. Thomas. This is Shane. He's from Australia." Thomas whistled to Shane.

"Hello."

"G'day Thomas! Let's get shunting!"

"Right."

I jumped out of Thomas as he moved off to help Percy and Shane. I grinned, knowing that that was going to keep him occupied for a while. My grin was shaken from my face literally as Tat grabbed my shoulders and shook me.

"And where the hell have ya been?" I grinned sheepishly.

"I went for a ride with Thomas. He's the one that was apparently shaken the most when I left." Tat sighed.

"Well, ya could have said somethin' before ya left."

"Sorry." Taylor chuckled at me and Tat as she walked up to us.

"Well at least you're back now. How was it?" I smiled.

"It was fun. Although I had a close encounter at the Dieselworks." Taylor raised an eyebrow.

"How so?"

"Apparently, Diesel 10's back." Taylor gave me an "oh" face while Tat just scoffed.

"Stay by me. I'll give him a piece of my mind." Both Taylor and I spoke at the same time.

"Not if he tears you apart first." We chuckled at our synchronised thinking.

By this time, Sam had made it back to us and was clearly starstruck.

"This. Is. AMAZING! I never thought I'd get to be a part of the Great Railway Show." We all chuckled at his enthusiasm. I decided to let the others know about the fissure too.

"Thomas and I also found a fissure in Henry's forest. It was spewing out a purple and black smog." Taylor hummed for a moment, as if to try and come up with an explanation.

"I know that earth fissures create holes in the ground, but I don't recall them being able to spew out a smog." Tat and Sam also came up empty. I sighed.

"Oh well. I blocked it with a bolder, so it should be fine."

"I think not."

The sudden unknown input into our conversation made us turn to the source behind me. There was no one behind me, but after a little bit of looking around Taylor spotted "him."

Above us, perched high on the roof of a nearby building was a man that looked like a young adult. He had brown hair tied into a small ponytail and was wearing a tattered black shirt that someone would wear to formal event, but not quite a tuxedo. He had black pants that were equally tattered and a pair of black and red sneakers. The most notable things about him was a golden staff attached to his back and an eye mask that had splodges of colour all over it. Behind the mask, his eyes showcased a vibrant shade of purple. He seemed almost out of place here at the showgrounds.

Anyway, he stood up and pointed to the four of us.

"The fissures are being created upon your arrival to the island four months ago." Now he seemed to pointing at me especially.

"You shouldn't have come back here. The island…" he gestured around him. "…is going to crumble and collapse in on itself." Despite taking his words into account, I couldn't resist the urge to question his statement.

"Wait… You've been watching me? Like some sort of stalker?" The man seemed to freeze for a moment as he realised how he'd worded it.

"No! Do not misunderstand me as a pervert and/or a stalker." He cleared his throat.

"As I was saying, bringing your friends here as well has also sped up the countdown." He pointed to the others.

"Leave this island before it's too…" he faltered when his finger pointed at Taylor, we all saw it. He was frozen in place for a good two seconds before he looked away. I heard him mumble to himself.

"Damn… why'd there have to be a dame here…" he cleared his throat again before pressing on.

"BEFORE it's too late. Or I will personally kick you out." He breathed a sigh of relief, finally being able to get his message across.

While Tat was giving him a piece of her mind, my mind flashed back to a time four months ago.

…

" _Hey Amber! Over here! I think I found it." I ran over and saw it too. Behind the pedestal was a mural. It was a mural of Lady pushing back a dark wave of some sort. I also saw behind Lady, a girl glowing with light. I was guessing that it was me and that I was going to help Lady in some…_

" _Hey wait! I'm on the mural! Cool!" I took a picture and then walked up to the pedestal._

…

'Now that I think about it, Lady never had to push back a wave when I was around four months ago. What could it mean?' I knew I'd have to check out the photo when I got back to Knapford, that being the place that I assumed the others had left our stuff. I looked back up and discovered that Sam had just handed Tat a tomato from one to the nearby stalls and I threw all my strength into catching her arm before she threw it. The masked man stood up to go.

"Heed my warning. If you four are not gone soon, I will hunt you down." He turned and was about to leave when I called out to him.

"Is there another way to undo it? The dark energy Mr… uh… I never caught your name." The masked man shook his head.

"No. You four must leave to stop it. And never come back." He gave a smile in our general direction.

"And call me Victor. Not to be confused with the Steamworks owner Victor." And with that he ran off. Although I could have sworn I heard a crash and a bang, almost as if he'd tripped and fell into some trash cans. My suspicion was confirmed when I heard his cry of profanity. Tat shouted after him.

"And change ya clothes! Ya look terrible!" I chuckled and looked to Taylor. She seemed to be flushed a light red. I smirked a devious smirk and sidled up to her.

"What's up with you?" Taylor jumped before sighing.

"He called me a dame…"

"Maybe you should ask him out next time we see him. I'm sure it won't be long…"

"AMBER!"

…

After the excitement at the Showgrounds, Thomas came to pick us up. He and Percy (After saying goodbye to Shane.) brought us back to Knapford station. Turns out, I was right, and our stuff was safely locked away in a large locker. Thomas offered to take us to a hotel for the night. I knew exactly where to go, and we were soon down by the seaside of Brendam Docks. Thomas whistled as he left.

"See you tomorrow Amber!" I waved as he disappeared around the bend. Sam spotted Salty, Porter, Cranky and surprisingly Carly and told us he'd catch up. I gave him the address of the hotel and I took Tat and Taylor up to the hotel. The reception recognised me and after a little bit of chatting, set us up in the room Matt and I had stayed in four months ago. Tat, being the one to care about her body the most, immediately snapped up the shower. Taylor opted to check out the roof, leaving me to sit on my bed alone. I'd fished out my camera from my last adventure and had found the picture I was looking for.

It indeed, showed the engine form of Lady floating in the air. Behind her, a girl seemed to be feeding her energy which kept the dark wave, that took up most of the mural, at bay. I couldn't make heads or tails of it, but I decided to keep it a secret from the others, not wanting to freak them out. I would, however, tell Matt when I saw him next, seeing as he'd been around when we found the mural.

Speaking of which, I hadn't heard from him since the party at Knapford. I expected him to call me at least ten times. But he hadn't. This made me wonder, what had become of my blue haired boyfriend. My thoughts were derailed as Tat came out of the bathroom only in a towel, Sam coming in the room from outside and Taylor walking in from the roof on the other side. I sighed as I knew what was going to happen to poor Sam.

Just another day with my friends.

…

"Whoa! This is bumpy!"

"Sorry! It's been a while since I've teleported with another person."

"Yeah I guessed that. Hang on you two. We're nearly home!"

 **There. Happy? Two years. TWO FREAKING YEARS!**

 ***sigh***

 **I've been sitting on the start of the chapter for some time now. I've only now realised how much of fool I was for letting it sit there, right under my nose for two years. I'd like to apologise massively and I hopefully (Don't you dare quote me on that!) will have more chapters up soon. I think I'll make it a shorter story, just so I can finish it, but I know you'll understand. Also, Victor is a new character I thought about not too long ago. He'll play a part in the story and as you may have guessed, he may or may not be a love interest for Taylor. As a little gift, I'll give you the next chapter name.**

" **Return of the Blue Haired Hero!"**

 **I know, you know who it's referring too. Anyway, see you lovely readers later.**

 **PS- Sam… Sorry for making you wait this long… Sorry man.**


	4. Return of the Blue Haired Hero!

Chapter 4: Return of the Blue Haired Hero!

 **I'm back! Time for the fourth chapter! Now, I've pulled together my baring's, and I'm going to make this story 8 chapters long. Sorry for the shorter story but I don't think I can make it much longer. Sodor only has only so many major places to go and I don't know how long this motivation streak is going to last. So we'll go with 8. Anyway enjoy this chapter!**

After we'd had dinner and went to bed, I tried to call Matt. I figured that he would pick up because I was calling him, but all I got was his answering machine.

" _Hi! You've called Matt. I can't get to the phone right now… probably because I'm plying something or I can't find my phone, but feel free to leave a message! I'll try and get back to you ASAP. Have a great day and I'll talk to you later."_

I sighed and left a message. After that I tried to get some sleep. But with no answer from Matt and Victor's warning, I just couldn't. In the end, I grabbed a map of Sodor and sat at the table with a lamp. I went across the map, looking for a place to go in the morning. After a while, my eyes felt heavy and I drifted off to sleep.

…

I woke up later to the clattering of plates and utensils. I lazily opened an eye to see Taylor standing in the small kitchen. She had a frying pan in her hand and a stack of pancakes to the side. I felt my mouth drool unintentionally and I lifted my head off the table. Taylor's pancakes were to die for! It was when I raised my head that I discovered that someone had draped a blanket over me. Taylor must have heard me because she turned her head towards me and smiled.

"Hey sleepyhead. How you doing?" I gave a huge yawn and a stretch before sighing.

"I'm fine. Didn't sleep too well, but I'm doing fine." Taylor grinned her extremely cute smile.

"Oh well. As you can see, I've cooked pancakes. I don't think Tatalia or Sam have tried them yet. Go and get them up will ya?" I nodded and got up.

"Will do. And call her Tat. She doesn't like being called by her full name." Taylor gave a knowing nod.

"Gotcha."

I headed over to the bedrooms and opened the door. Taylor, Tat and Sam slept in the guest rooms while I had been given my old king sized bed (Yes, king sized!), which was located by the window in the master bedroom. Anyway, when I opened the door, I found Sam sleeping soundly in his bed, which was neat and tidy. Tat on the other hand, was sprawled over her bed on her back. Her head was down at the foot of the bed and her arms were over the edge. Her feet were curled up and her clothes were completely crinkled over her body. I was glad I got there before Sam woke up, otherwise there would have been a similar incident from last night.

I tapped Tat on the forehead. She gave a loud snore before bringing an arm up. I was about to go wake up Sam when I was grabbed by Tat. I found myself on the bed next to Tat as she cuddled up to me, as if I was her teddy bear. I nearly shrieked when I felt her hand worming around me.

"Hey Tat!" I bopped her nose which seemed to do the job. Tat's eyes opened and found herself cuddling me. She gave me a sly grin.

"Wasup? How long have I been cuddlin' ya?"

"Just now. And get your hand off my boob."

"Soz." I got up and brushed myself off.

"Seriously. I try to wake you up and you attack me." Tat rolled over to lie on her stomach. She would have if she hadn't been sleeping so close to the edge. She ended up falling off the bed and landed on the ground with a loud thump. That woke up Sam and he bolted upright.

"The aliens are invading!" I raised an eyebrow.

"What?" Sam seemed to wake up pretty quickly and he looked away with a blush.

"Nothing."

…

We all sat at the table, having just finished Taylor's pancakes (And yes, Tat and Sam both fell in love with them!), around a map of Sodor. I had told them that we could go where ever they wanted to go but they had to agree on it. Sam peaked up immediately.

"I want to check out Great Waterton! Ever since _The Great Discovery_ , it's always been on my places to visit." Tat shrugged.

"Harwick looks nice. It's right on the beach." Her eyes suddenly lit up. "Can we have ah beach day?"

"Maybe later." Tat pouted. Taylor, being a little bit of a history nut, spoke up.

"I want to check out at least one castle before we go." I nodded. The only castle I'd checked out was Ulfstead and going to a new castle wasn't a bad idea. In the end, I pulled Lady's flyer for the Great Railway Show out and placed it to the side of the map.

"Ok. The show is on Friday, which gives us three days to explore." I pointed to Great Waterton.

"How about we go to Great Waterton today…" Sam's face lit up.

"…Harwick for a beach day tomorrow, because the weathers supposed to be nice then…" Tat grinned.

"…And maybe… Callan Castle on Thursday. Then the Show on Friday. Sound good?" Taylor nodded.

"I don't mind."

"Sounds good to me."

"Aye girlfriend!" I stood up.

"Right. Let's get ready to go to Great Waterton!"

…

After organising ourselves, we heading down to the docks. It was about nine in the morning and Henry had just left back to the sheds, as Porter had told me. I looked around at the different sights of the docks before looking up to Cranky. He was busy loading and unloading a ship that was parked next to him. He spotted me staring at him and glared at me.

"What do you want?" I waved politely.

"Nothing. Just watching."

Well stop it. You're distracting me." Carly rolled closer to Cranky and turned to me.

"Don't worry about him. He's just being himself." I turned my attention to the large yellow crane.

"I wasn't. When did you get here? Last time I was here, it was just Cranky." Carly chuckled.

"I got here not too long ago. Three weeks ago to be exact." I nodded.

"Cool."

Thomas rolled into the docks with a line of trucks as we finished talking. He gave a whistle.

"Morning Amber!" I waved.

"Hi Thomas!" Thomas stopped near us and was uncoupled from his train. He rolled up to the four of us and let us hop in.

"So, where to today?" He asked curiously.

"We're heading for Great Waterton. Any chance you can get us there?" Thomas whistled with excitement before taking off.

"Of course." His face fell though. I almost instantly his change in mood.

"What's up?" Thomas sighed.

"I'm probably not going to be able to spend as much time with you and your friends this time. With the show coming up, everything's just flat out. Like even today, I'm going to have to drop you off and run, because I've got to help set up the yard for the special expresses from Knapford to Killdane. I believe Norman has to set up the Vicarstown side for Friday…" Tat stuck her head out of the cab.

"All good! We can get ourselves around the Island. Ah'm sure we can take train's like ah normal person. Not everyone's a VIP like Amb's here!" Thomas chuckled.

"That's a fair point." I patted him.

"You go ahead and get you're spot in the show. We're all rooting for you!" Taylor, Tat and Sam agreed. Thomas gave a loud whistle.

"Thank you. Don't get into too much trouble on your own then."

"We won't."

"Ah mean… What's the worst that could happen?"

…

"She's headed for Great Waterton?"

Diesel 10 hung just above the ground in the Dieselworks as workmen began work on him. Diesel, who sat on the lower part of the works, looked up to him.

"Yes. That's what Salty told me anyway." Diesel 10 cackled.

"Well. I need someone to get down there to get her." Diesel raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"Don't ask me questions. Just do it." Diesel sighed.

"Look. Going this far to mess with a human? It's almost as if you…"

"Just do it!" Diesel 10 sighed before adding…

"Your full of surprises, aren't you?" Diesel's eyes lit up.

"Yes! I am. I'm full of surprises…"

"Don't you dare start singing." Diesel's mouth shut rather quickly. Diesel 10 resumed.

"At least pull a "Surprise" on Amber. I hate her with a passion and I don't need her running around the island anymore. I want you to bring her to me." Diesel went wide eyed.

"Wait… You don't mean…"

"No, you idiot!" Diesel 10 smiled wickedly.

"Leave that part to me."

…

We reached Great Waterton by ten in the morning. Thomas pulled up to the station platform and let us all out. I looked around. To my left, was the big water tower that Stanley had toppled in _The Great Discovery_ and a few warehouses. To my left was the other platform and the urban shops and houses. I heard Sam gasp at the sight and then a thump. I turned around and sure enough, he was on the ground unconscious. Taylor sighed.

"Aaaand there he goes." Tat bent down and patted his cheeks rapidly. He woke up and groaned.

"I really need to stop doing that." Tat nodded.

"Yes. Yes, ya do."

I turned to Thomas as he got ready to leave.

"Hey. Don't be so hard on yourself. Just do your best. Thomas smiled.

"I'll try." And with a whistle, he headed up and around the bend, leaving the four of us in Great Waterton. I turned to the others.

"Right! Where do we want to go first?"

For the next few hours, we explored Great Waterton. The first place we went to, was the water tower because as it was the closest landmark. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to climb it so we took our pictures at the bottom and then moved on over the footbridge and into the urban part of Great Waterton. We spent a chunk of our time exploring the various shops, which included several general stores, three Op Shops, two toy stores (One of which I bought a model engine of Rosie, because I didn't have one of her yet!) and the supermarket to buy a chocolate bar for Tat, who had a sudden craving for chocolate for whatever reason. At lunchtime, we found a little restaurant, tucked away in a corner near the hill that Thomas had gone up. I ate this delicious chicken schnitzel while the others had their own thing. We paid for lunch and we were now exploring the area near the engine sheds, toward the back of the city. Sam was looking around at the wonderful sights. He sighed.

"I know VR's supposed to be cool and all, but it doesn't compare to this!" I chuckled.

"That's true. I felt the same way when I first came here." Tat lent on a barrel near the shed entrance.

"Yeah. But there's nothin' really here to be lookin' at. It's just engine sheds."

"But isn't it amazing still? On what day of the week do you get to stand in a literal _Thomas and Friends_ set? Back when _The Great Discovery_ was being filmed, it wasn't the CGI that they have now. It was being filmed with toy trains. And while it might be cool, being able to make Thomas and his Friends go or do anything by the CGI of computer nowadays, you can't beat the classics!" Tat hummed.

Well, ya got me there." I was also amazed. I didn't realise that Sam knew so much about _Thomas and Friends_. He might even rival ME with knowledge. I was going to reply when we all heard the humming of a diesel. My blood ran cold.

'Surely he's not up and running by now! He was completely waterlogged when I saw him yesterday!' Tat must have noticed my worry because she put a hand on my shoulder.

"Don't worry. We're here." I smiled.

"Thanks."

It wasn't long before the source of the humming came around the corner. It was a black diesel, one that I knew well. The one with the most original name. He came to a stop near us.

"Diesel." Diesel smirked.

"So you must be the one who caused Diesel 10 so much trouble. Amber, right?"

"Yeah." I said cautiously. Diesel shrugged.

"Thanks."

"Huh?"

"Thanks. I heard that you made him make a fool out of himself. I'm thanking you for it."

"Oh… Well it was nothing…"

Hey Amb's. I hope you haven't forgot that he has connections to Diesel 10." I chuckled nervously.

"No. I haven't. I'm just hoping that I can keep him busy so he forgets that he's after me." Diesel laughed.

"Yeah, no such luck. I've been told to come and get you. Diesel 10 wants to have a word with you."

"Look. I don't…"

"GET YA FAT BACK END OUT OF HERE!" Everyone jumped back at Tat's outburst. She was fuming. She walked right up to Diesel and stared him square in the face.

"Amber's stayin' here. With me. With us. Ya can go back to Diesel 10 and tell him that." I was slightly relieved with that. Diesel sighed.

"Sorry. But I have a job to do. She's coming with me." The two argued back and forth for a little bit. I sweat-dropped at the scene.

"Hey Amber?" I turned to Sam.

"Yeah?"

"It wasn't supposed to rain today was it?" I frowned.

"No. why?"

"The clouds are getting dark." I looked up and sure enough, the clouds above our heads were indeed getting dark. But they were swirling in a way that was strangely unnatural. I raised an eyebrow.

"What the hell?" Taylor gulped.

"This doesn't look right." By now, Tat and Diesel had noticed it too.

"What on Sodor?"

"What's goin' on?"

The clouds swirled around and around. After about a minute had passed, the clouds opened up. Not to rain, but a hole in the middle of it. After a moment, two figures fell out of it.

"Yahoo!"

"Whoa! Hydro Pump, HYDRO PUMP!" Diesel, who was sitting right under the hole, was drenched in water as something spouted it out to slow his decent. One figure, a girl, landed gracefully on her feet, while the water propelled boy bounced off Diesel and landed behind him. Diesel grimaced and spat out water.

"Ow! What was that?" The clouds disappeared and the cloud dotted sky returned. I looked around.

"Wha…?" I was going to continue when there was a splat just in front of me. I jumped back and looked at the blob that had landed at my feet. It was a gold and pink splodge that seemed to be moving. I gave a cry of surprise when it did move. It reformed itself into a small blob with antennas that was strangely shiny. It looked around before panicking. It slid this way and that, almost knocking us off our feet. It finally relaxed when the girl grabbed it.

"Gotcha! Calm down! They're friends see?" I finally got a good look at the girl and I knew who it was straight away.

"Lady?" Sure enough, Lady stood there in all her glory, blonde hair flowing gently behind her. Her pink and purple clothes gave it away too. Lady grinned.

"Hey Amber!" I raced to her and gave her a hug, not caring for the squishy thing that had parked itself in her arms. Lady chuckled.

"Long time no see." I smiled.

"Really! I was expecting you to be around when I got here, but no! You had to disappear on me." Lady laughed.

"Sorry, but I had to get someone else to complete the reunion." She lifted the blob up to my eyes. It had stopped panicking and was now looking content.

"This little guy is Goomy! He came along for the ride back." I raised an eyebrow.

"Uh… Nice to meet you… Goomy." Lady laughed.

"He's not the one that I was getting. The one I got is…" she looked around. "Uh… Where is he?"

"I'm ok! Just got a sore butt from the landing. Brionne broke the landing for me." Came a voice behind Diesel. From behind him, came a boy with light royal blue hair. He wore a green T-shirt with a large black stripe going around his stomach and back on it and black tracksuit pants. His sneakers were blue and he wore a colourful bracelet on his left wrist. In his arms, was a blue seal of some kind that seemed to wear a tutu. It had a pink nose and two short ears that consisted of three circles. The boy looked to Diesel, who was still spitting out water.

"Hang on. Diesel?"

"Do I know you?"

"If I'm having a conversation with an engine, that then means…" He turned to Lady.

"Hey! I thought you were going to send me…" He paused when is eyes locked onto mine. There was a moment before he started speaking again.

"Home… Amber?" I gave a huge grin, knowing fully well who it was. Lady leaned over to my ear.

"Your welcome." I walked up to him.

"Matt." The boy sighed.

"If I'm back here with my girlfriend on the magical island with talking trains, that means my mum is going to completely obliterate me when I finally get home." Matt then grinned as well.

"Better enjoy it while it lasts then." He put the seal (Brionne as I later learned.) down on the ground and embraced me with a big hug. I hugged back as tightly as I could. After a moment, I felt him kiss my forehead and I grinned.

"I won't let her obliterate you. I promise."

"Good to know." The moment would have gone on longer if Tat hadn't decided to let us know we weren't the only humans on the planet.

"Ah hate to interrupt, but we're here too." I glanced to the others just in time to see Lady elbow Tat in the ribs. Taylor's hands were over Sam's eyes while he was protesting that he was old enough. I broke away from Matt and gave him a light punch on the arm.

"Good to have you back partner." Matt chuckled.

"Good to be back." He looked around. "Great Waterton huh? Nice choice." Sam broke out of Taylor's grip.

"I know right! It was the last movie that used the model trains before they moved on to CGI…"

"…In which the next one, Hero of the Rails, was the first movie…"

"To be fully CGI!" They both finished. Matt laughed.

"I get the feeling that we're going to get along nicely."

…

We headed back to the main part of Great Waterton to catch a train back to Brendam (Thanks to all the water that Brionne had dumped on Diesel, he'd short circuited and couldn't follow us. We just left him there with him shouting after us.). Luckily, we made it to the platform just as Stanley was about to leave for Knapford with his train. We climbed aboard and watched as Great Waterton was left behind. I sat back in my chair and sighed. Diesel 10 might be out of action, but it still worried me that he was sending other diesels after me. My thoughts were halted when I felt someone poking my arm. I looked to Taylor who pointed to Tat. I was half surprised when I saw her trying to flirt with Matt.

"Hi there."

"Hi…"

"How are ya?"

"Fine…"

"So you're Amber's "Guy of her dreams" yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Ah can see why." Matt sighed, clearly annoyed.

"Look. I've fended off girls that probably have more feminine charm than you. Just because you've got the assets doesn't mean every guy is going to fall in love with you." Tat seemed offended by this before shrugging it off.

"Ah like guys who are hard to get." Matt rolled his eyes before changing the subject.

"So do any of you recognise these guys? Lady, don't answer. I know you know." He took Goomy from Lady and helped the seal up onto the seat. Lady huffed. I personally wasn't sure, but they did look familiar.

"Brionne the pop star Pokémon from _Pokémon Sun and Moon_ and Goomy the soft tissue Pokémon from _Pokémon X and Y."_ All heads turned to Taylor, who simply shrugged.

"What? I like to play _Pokémon._ " Matt nodded.

"Nice to know I'm not the only Pokémon nut here." Taylor continued.

"But how on earth did you get your hands on two Pokémon let alone a shiny? Their fictional beings." Lady chuckled nervously and raised her hand.

"That would be my fault. I kinda sneezed when I was transporting him home four months ago. I teleported him to the World of Pokémon apparently. The sucker was hard to find." I looked to her.

"You knew where he was?"

"Yeah. I didn't want to freak you out though." I let out a sigh.

"As much as I wanted to know why he wasn't picking up his phone, thanks for not telling me. I would have been bugging you endlessly about whether or not you'd found him yet." Lady chuckled. Matt checked his phone and his eyes bulged out of his head when he saw how many missed calls he had.

"That was another reason I opted to not tell you." I sighed.

"Well at least he's ok." Matt nodded.

"During my time there, I did have several girls after me, but like I said to Flirty Pants here…" He gestured to Tat, who rolled her eyes. "…I fended them off." I was slightly annoyed to hear that but I let it slide. Sam then decided to butt in.

"So what's for dinner?"

…

It was about eight-thirty by the time we began to wind down. We'd had a beautiful spaghetti made by Taylor and Matt (Who wanted to chip in.) for dinner. After dinner, Matt told us about his extra journey. Taylor seemed the most intrigued by his story while I would pout with jealousy whenever he mentioned the other girls that tried to win him over. But Matt assured me that he didn't let them get to him. Even if they were pretty.

Tat, Sam and Taylor had retreated to their room and Lady had gone off to check on the island. I'd made it to my bed and was curled up under the doona. I sighed with comfort.

It was short lived as I felt two arms wrap around my waist. I nearly shrieked at the sudden contact before remembering who joined us from the sky today.

"I hope you don't mind. You didn't exactly point me to a bed."

"I was half expecting you to sleep on the couch."

"No. You wanted me to join you."

"…"

"Didn't you?" I rolled over to face my bed invader.

"No funny business ok." Matt chuckled.

Only if you agree. I'd never do any "Funny Business" without your agreement." I blushed.

"Thanks." There was a pause before I smiled. "You can kiss me though. Now that no one's around."

"I figured you'd say that." We kissed for a moment before I rolled over and pushed myself into his chest. He put his arms around me and I felt myself falling asleep.

"I'm glad you're back."

"So am I Amb's. So am I."

 **Chapter 4. Done! Yeah, I know not much happened in this chapter, but the main focus of the chapter is on the return of Matt. Not much else to say but I will start on the next chapter soon. Talk to you all next time.**

 **Next Chapter: Beach Day at Harwick!**


	5. Beach Day at Harwick!

Chapter 5: Beach Day at Harwick!

 **Back again! I've realized as I'm going over my notes for the story that there isn't as much engine interactivity going on in this story. But once they reach the show there will be though. Just a heads up. Enjoy the chapter!**

"You let her get away?"

"Well for one, not everyone has a big as claw on their cabs!"

Diesel had been brought to the Dieselworks overnight and was sitting near Diesel 10. Diesel couldn't move on his own thanks to the water short circuiting his generator, so Den and Dart had to go out to fetch him. Diesel 10 roared with frustration.

"I gave you one job!"

"I know! I couldn't do it. I have no way of grabbing her like you do." Diesel huffed.

"Whatever you've got planned for her, count me out. I don't need this right now." Diesel 10 glared at him.

"Coward."

"Yeah yeah, whatever." Diesel sat there for a moment before realizing he couldn't go anywhere.

"Drat." Diesel 10 sighed.

"I guess you're right though. You dimwits can't physically grab her, so you lot are useless." He looked up to the full moon peeking through the skylight.

"Mark my words. As soon as I'm fixed, I'm coming to get you Amber!" Diesel groaned, knowing that he wasn't going to get much sleep.

'I should have just left you in that dingy.' He thought.

…

The early sunrise was peeking through the curtains of my room. Even though I had my eye's closed, I could still feel it on my face. I could also feel two arms still wrapped around my stomach. It was refreshing to wake up to knowing that Matt was back.

How many times will I say that I'm happy to have Matt back?

You can count on it being said several times to myself last night.

Anyway, I could also feel a small weight on my feet, probably Brionne curled up. I lay there for a moment, embracing the warmth from everything. Then I heard the noise of a photo being taken. I cracked an eye open to see Tat standing there with her phone in her hand. She froze when she realized she'd been sprung.

"Oh! Uhhh… Ah… Ah didn't realize you were awake…" I sighed and sat myself up. Matt must have felt me moving because he shuffled around too. I rubbed my eyes.

"No. that's fine. Let's see it." I put my hand out, gesturing for her phone. Tat passed it to me and I flipped it around to see the screen. On it, was the sleeping forms of myself and Matt. It was very cute. I glanced to Tat.

"Send this to me later." I whispered. Tat nodded.

"Anyway, Ah'm here to get you two up. We need to get up an' ready!" She sidestepped around me and gave Matt a poke. He grumbled something in his sleep and Tat grinned.

"Ah've got the perfect tool for this…" It was then I noticed the air horn in her hand. I shook my head.

"No. Don't do it." Tat gave me a smug smile before putting it in his face and pressed the trigger. There was a loud horn sound and Matt jumped three feet in the air with a shout. Brionne, who was sitting at his feet, got a fright too. The poor seal sprayed water in the direction of the noise and hit Tat directly in the ribs. Tat was knocked over and she dropped the air horn. It fell down and disappeared under the bed. Matt, who was now wide awake, rubbed his head.

"What the hell was that for?" Tat was laughing her head off, despite the massive wet patch on her shirt. Brionne was breathing heavily. I sighed.

"I agree. What **was** that for?" Tat's laughter slowed to a chuckle.

"Ah… Ah… Ah just…" She couldn't speak clearly due to her chuckling. Eventually, she calmed herself down.

"Ah just came to wake ya up. Today's mah day an' I ain't missin' it to two sleepy heads." Matt stretched before jumping out of bed.

"And the air horn was necessary?"

"Every second of it."

…

After Tat got up Taylor and Sam, she began to explain how the day was going to go.

"Ok. So we're goin' to have some breakfast here. Then we'll catch the seven-fifty-two train to Knapford. When we get there, we'll catch the eight-twenty-five train to Harwick. Once we get to Harwick, it should be about nine-ish an' we'll have the rest of the day to spend at the beach! How's that sound?" I had to admit, Tat had taken her day so seriously. She'd asked if she could organized today's activities and I gave her the A-OK. Taylor nodded.

"Sounds good." Sam agreed. Matt put his hand up.

"I hate to be a party pooper, but I don't have bathers. I lost my bag ages ago." Tat hummed.

"Do ya have money to buy one?" Matt reached into his right pocket to pull out his wallet. He seemed to be surprised as he pulled it out. His eyes bulged out of his head when he saw the cash in there.

"Wha…? I've never… Huh?" I looked over to see several big notes in there. Sam whistled.

"Wow. Since when did you fall in love with a rich guy Amber?" I blushed. Matt seemed to find something in his wallet and he pulled it out. It was a small card with some writing on it. He grinned.

"Lady, you son of a gun!"

"What?" Matt turned the card around and showed it to me. Sure enough, Lady had written on it. I decided to read it aloud.

 _Matt._

 _I took the liberty to change over the money that you earned over in the other world. You're rich now pal!_

 _From Lady._

Taylor grinned.

"I guess that won't be a problem now." Matt nodded in agreement. Tat waved it off.

"Ya can buy one when we get to Harwick." Tat turned to Taylor.

"Any chance ya can cook us up some breakfast?" Taylor nodded.

"Of course."

…

Breakfast wasn't as spectacular as yesterday's, but it was still yum. Taylor made a large batch of French toast, which we quickly devoured. After we'd eaten, we cleared up and headed down to the station. We caught the intended train and reached Knapford right on time. We waited for a little bit before Daisy came through for her first train to Harwick. We hopped aboard and were currently cruising along the Harwick Branch Line having just passed through Arlesburgh. Tat watched the sea roll by on the left. She squealed with joy.

"This is goin' to be awesome!" Sam chuckled at her antics. Tat looked to Sam and grinned.

"Wanna know what ah'm going to be wearin'? She asked slyly. Sam's face went as red as a tomato.

"Uhh… something… um… moderate?" Tat laughed.

"Ha! Ya should know me by now Sammy boy! Ah'm goin' full bikini baby!" Sam looked away, clearly embarrassed by her outburst.

"I was afraid of that…" Taylor gave him a pat on the back.

"Don't worry too much. She'll probably be too busy flirting with other guys to cause you any trouble." Sam's face fell.

"That's what I was also afraid of…"

Daisy finally pulled up to Harwick station at about nine o'clock. Just as Tat had predicted. Tat was first off, closely followed by the rest of us.

"Wow! This is amazing!" I had to agree.

There was water far as the eye could see. To my left was where'd we'd come from and to my right, just past the station, the beach ran into the small town of Harwick. Not too far in the distance, I could see a boardwalk going out onto the water. Matt gave a low whistle.

"Nice. Once again, Reality is better than VR." Sam nodded before looking around.

"Hey, where'd Goomy go? You've brought Brionne along, but I don't see Goomy." Matt chuckled.

"Goomy's gotten quite attached to Lady. He went with Lady last night. He'll be back though. He's a lot tougher than he looks."

"Oh."

"So. We goin' to get changed or what?"

The next half an hour went by quickly. We all headed to town first so Matt could get his swimsuit. He was quick to pick and once bought, we headed to the change rooms. Matt left Brionne sitting outside the door because she didn't need to change. I on the other hand, was secretly dreading this part because… well… you know…

Tat.

While she might be a girl that might like the male body a bit too much, she still enjoys doing what they would dream of doing. And today was no exception. I think Sam and Matt, who were changing next door, would have had to really focus to ignore our girly shrieks.

Matt and Sam were first out and changed. Matt had picked out an emerald and black rashie and a pair of sea blue board shorts. He still had his colourful bracelet on his left wrist too. Sam wore a pair of black goggles on his head and red board shorts, no shirt. Matt looked out to the ocean.

"For a nice day, there isn't many people here." Sam shrugged.

"Their loss. Their probably getting ready to go to the show." Matt nodded and looked to Sam. He raised an eyebrow at his blushed face.

"You ok?"

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine."

"You know they'll kill you if the found out you were intentionally listening, right?"

"…That's true." He rubbed his face with his hands to get rid of it. It was about then when we came out.

"Sorry to keep ya waitin'!" Both heads turned to us and poor Sam's face lit up again while Matt gave a low whistle.

Tat (Being Tat.) was wearing a half black, half white bikini set that _almost_ seemed too small for her, but not enough to expose herself tremendously. Taylor wasn't too fussed about what she wore so she wore a white T-shirt that was tied up to show off her stomach with a green bikini bottom. Her blonde hair was pulled into a big pony tail. As for myself, I was wearing a royal blue bather top without sleeves. It showed off a little bit of my upper back before the front came and made a loop around my neck while also showing off my stomach as well. Along with it, I had a black bikini bottom and a sky blue see through piece of fabric tied around my waist. My red hair was tied up into a small pony tail as well. Matt gave a thumbs-up.

"Nice." Sam on the other hand seemingly had his eye's glued to Tat. Tat gave him a cheeky smirk before grabbing him and putting him in a headlock.

"What do ya think Sammy? Do ah look hot or do ah look sexy?" Sam looked as if he was on the verge of overheating.

"B-b-b-bo-bo-both!" he managed to stutter. Tat gave a hearty laugh and let him go in to which he toppled over and lay on the sand. His eyes swirled around in a comical fashion.

"Good to know. Now, where can ah find some…" she was interrupted by a bubble popping on her nose. "Wha?" I looked around us. Sure enough, there were bubbles everywhere. Taylor raised an eyebrow.

"Where are they coming from?" I spotted a small crowd not too far from the changerooms we were standing in front of. Above them, bigger bubbles floated around. I pointed it out.

"I think their coming form over there." Matt seemed to chuckle.

"If that's the case, I know who's making them." We all headed over to the crowd to have a look.

Sure enough, Brionne was in the center of it, blowing bubbles and tossing them around. She was in the process of blowing up a small bubble with a little boy in it. The mother of the boy was hesitant.

"I don't think this is a good idea Jimmy dear." Brionne gave a small wave, gesturing her not to worry. After a moment, Brionne let the bubble go and Jimmy was floating in a bubble just a few feet of the ground. The crowd ooo-ed and ahh-ed. I turned to Matt.

"Her bubbles are strong enough to hold a person?"

"Yeah. She can get a bigger person to float too. Back in the Pokémon World, she managed to lift one of my other friends up during that performance I was telling you about. And she was an adult." I marveled at this, wondering if Brionne could lift me. Matt pushed through the crowd and went to Brionne's side.

"Now kid, what you're going to have to do now is just make yourself straight, like your standing on your feet, and Brionne will pop it for you. Then you'll land on your feet see?" The boy nodded. He positioned himself and Brionne popped the bubble. Sure enough, he landed on his feet. The crowd clapped to her before turning to Matt.

"What a peculiar seal."

"Is it yours?"

"How'd you teach it to do that?"

I watched as Matt picked up Brionne and answered all their questions. Taylor put a hand on my shoulder and smiled.

"He'd make a great husband you know." I blushed, still looking a Matt.

"I totally agree."

…

By the time Matt had finished talking to the crowd, the sun was high up in the air. Matt gave a sigh of relief.

"Who knew Sodorians could be so curious?" he questioned. I shrugged.

 **(A/N: I'm not sure if I got that right. The Sodorians thing. Is it Sodorians or Sudrions? Correct me if I'm wrong.)**

"Well you do have a blue seal that can blow massive bubbles that are strong enough to lift people."

"True." We stood there for a moment, watching the waves crash onto the sand and the horizon in general. I let a content sigh slip through my mouth.

"It's so beautiful, don't you think?" Matt nodded.

"Hey! You two coming in? Or are you going to stare at the horizon all day?" we both looked to where the slight English accent was coming from. Taylor was standing on the waters edge, waving to us. I smirked.

"Last one in's gotta buy lunch!" I took off to the water, leaving Matt to splutter before giving chase.

The water was cold at first, but after a little splashing around, I got use to it. I think Sam regretted not wearing a shirt because he was shivering like a madman.

When he wasn't blushing a Tat's actions or fuming over the guys she tried to flirt with.

As we splashed our way down the beach toward the pier and shopping center, Taylor's interest was grabbed.

"Hey. Isn't that a beach volleyball court?" I looked up toward the beach. Sure enough, a small court was set up near the wall. A crowd was cheering as two teams bounced the ball back and forth. Taylor gushed at the sight.

Along side being a computer whiz, Taylor absolutely loved volleyball and beach volleyball. She'd pulled me along to every game she wanted to see or to every game she'd played in. She was good. Tat sighed.

"Eh. So what if it is? Ah ain't a sporty person." I rolled my eyes. Tat on the other hand, didn't. The only sport she enjoyed was flirting. We all know it isn't a sport, but she does. Taylor frowned.

"You don't need to have a look. I'll go by myself then." And she stomped out of the water. I chuckled.

"Hey Sam." Sam looked to me.

"Yeah?"

"Keep an eye on Flirty Pants for me ok? I'm going with Taylor." Sam nodded nervously.

"I'll try." Tat smirked.

"You? Lookin' after me? You and ah are goin' to have so much fun…" Sam stuttered.

"What?"

"Tackle!" And with that, she full on launched herself at poor Sam, knocking them both over into the water. Matt sweat-dropped.

"He going to be alright?" I shrugged.

"Sam's got a knack for surviving Tat's onslaught." Matt gave a knowing nod as we followed Taylor.

"That, and he likes her."

"Oh. Does Tat know?"

"I doubt it. She's to intent trying to find her "True Love."

"Who always is standing by her side. Must be hard for him to watch her flirting with other guys." I nodded.

"From what I've seen, it takes a lot out of him."

…

We found Taylor talking to one of the players that had just been on the court. She wore a blue one-piece swimsuit with a white stripe that ran down the middle of her body. Separating the white from the blue, were two small orange lines. If you were to look at the swimsuit sideways, you would get the Sodor flag. They were laughing about something when we walked up. Taylor spotted us and turned around.

"So, you came with me huh. Good thing you did. Sophie here has offered me to play against them in a friendly match later." Sophie chuckled.

"Sure. We'd like a challenge. Taylor was just telling me how good she is." I laughed.

"Just be aware, she does like to stretch the truth a little." That earned me a punch in the arm. Sophie smiled.

"Unfortunately, we're in the middle of a match with the Norramby team so we can't play now. But if you come back at about three-ish, we should be good to play." Taylor looked to us.

"You'll be happy to play yeah?" I shrugged.

"Sure. Why not."

"May as well." Sophie gave a thumbs-up.

"Awesome. A three-vs-three will be cool." Matt lifted Brionne up to his face.

"How about a four-vs-four? She may not look it, but she's really good at throwing bubbles around." Sophie looked to Brionne, who gave a cute smile.

"Eh. Why not. I've never played against a seal before. This'll be interesting." She gave us a wave before joining the rest of her team on the court. Taylor squealed with delight.

"Thanks. You'll both enjoy it!" I smiled.

"I'm sure we will."

…

Soon, after regrouping with Tat and a very worn out Sam, we headed into the shopping center on the Harwick Beachfront. Harwick's shopping center wasn't known for it's size or certain shops, but for it's variety. For example, they had a summer clothing store next to a winter one. There were tons of ice cream and lollie shops around as well. We all marveled at the different places.

"This place might not be as big as the ones back home, but it's still cool."

"Ah have to agree with ya there."

We split up for a little bit, just to have a look at different stores. At one o'clock, we met up at the entrance we'd come in at. Sam had a small bag with him, which immediately made everyone curious. Taylor was first to ask.

"What did you get Sam?" Sam smiled.

"Nothing too special." It was very faint, but I managed to spot a blush on his face. Taylor pointed to the boardwalk.

"How about we head out there? It looks like there's a restaurant near the end. Let's eat out there." I nodded before smirking.

"And Matt has happily nominated to pay for us." Matt looked to me, clearly confused.

"I did? When?" I gave him a sly smirk.

"When you were last into the water silly. Don't you remember what I said?" Matt thought for a moment before grumbling.

"Just because I have the mountain of cash doesn't mean I have to buy everything for everyone." He muttered. Taylor slapped him on the back.

"Thanks pal. And just so you know, I'm going to let you marry my best friend. No ifs, no buts, no coconuts my friend." Matt chuckled.

"Maybe one day." Matt, Taylor and Tat headed up the boardwalk. I stayed behind with Sam, who looked to me.

"What? Why didn't you go with them?" I smiled to Sam.

"Because that thing in the bag is for Tat, isn't it?" Sam looked away, embarrassed.

"Yeah." He mumbled.

"You going to give it to her?"

"When the time is right." I put my hand on his shoulder.

"Go for it Sam. I know how much she means to you. Maybe, if you confess, she'll stop flirting with other guys."

"And it'll all go to me. I'm not sure if I can deal with all that seductiveness." I laughed.

"If you want to date Tat, you've got to go with the full package. Flirt and all." Sam chuckled. I smirked.

"And besides, you like it don't you?" Sam blushed bright red.

"I-I-I-I'm a guy after all. It's not like you'd understand." I shrugged.

"I do to a certain degree."

"You two coming or what?" We both looked to the end of the boardwalk to where Matt had shouted from. He waved to us. Sam chuckled.

"Race you?"

"Oh, it's on!" We both took off down the boardwalk toward the others.

…

On the other side of the boardwalk, a brown-haired man was walking towards the shopping center. He had an ice-cream in hand and was eating it happily.

"I love coming out here. All the fissures around here are closed, the weathers nice and the ice-cream here is to die for! Nothing can ruin this moment…"

He was interrupted when two people ran by him. A flash of red caught his attention.

"Red hair? Don't see that everyday on Sodor." He looked back to where they'd gone and nearly dropped his ice-cream. At the restaurant, a group of four awfully familiar people plus one new guy and a seal were heading in the door. Amongst them, was a red headed girl. One that wasn't supposed to be here anymore.

"What? She's still here? I told them to leave the other day but now there's a fifth person?" The man clenched his fist, crushing the ice-cream cone in it.

'That would explain the large number of fissures opening recently.' He sighed.

"I warned her. Now I'm going to have to remove them by force." He looked down to his hand, which was cold thanks to the ice-cream running down it.

"…After I get another ice-cream. And probably tomorrow. There's too many people around." He turned from where the group had been standing and continued to the Shopping Center.

"Get ready. I'm going to come at you like a bus!"

…

Lunch was very good. Even though Matt was still sour about paying for it, he got over it when he tasted his food. We after we finished, we headed out and discovered that there was a small amusement park at the end of the walk. Sam, being the youngest out of the five of us, begged to go. Taylor agreed, but we had to be down at the Beach Volleyball court by ten-to-three. Tat huffed.

"Ya so excited about this Volleyball game. Ah really don't wanna' go so ah'll stay here with Sammy an' we'll meet ya at the station. About five-ish. That'll give ya long enough to play ya game and get to the station. Sound fair?" Taylor rolled her eyes.

"I guess so." Tat smirked.

"Good. Let's go Sammy!" Tatt headed into the park, grabbing Sam's hand as she walked by him and the two disappeared into the small crowd. Taylor sighed.

"I'm I the only one who's worried about Sam?" Matt laughed.

"He'll be fine." I nodded.

"This is probably his chance too. Let's hope he takes it." Taylor gave a knowing nod.

"That's true." She turned to us.

"Now off you two go. I really don't need to be around with you two kissing and all." I blushed.

"Why would you even think that?" Taylor laughed.

"Kidding, kidding. Have fun. If I don't see you before three, we'll meet at the court." Matt grinned.

"Gotcha! See you then!"

…

Amongst all the things we did, my favorite was the small rollercoaster. In the small space of the boardwalk, it managed to do a loop, a small corkscrew and it even went over the water. Matt wasn't too keen on it, but after a little convincing, he came too. We saw Tat and Sam twice when we were walking around, the first being at the carnival games and the second just as they were hopping on the Ferris wheel. By the time we were finished at the park, it was nearly three. We had to run to the court to make it on time. Taylor, being the most eager to play, was already there. She and Sophie were chatting again. Sophie spotted us and waved to us.

"Hey! You two ready to play?" I took a few gulps of air before nodding.

"Yeah. We're ready."

"Speak for yourself." I looked behind me and found Matt sprawled across the sand, Brionne using his stomach as a pillow. He put a hand up to the sky.

"Gimme a minute." Sophie laughed.

"Ok. When you're ready."

After five minutes, both trainer and Pokémon were ready to go. During those five minutes, Sophie introduced her team.

"As you know, I'm Sophie. I'm captain of the team." She pointed to a burly man that was flexing his muscles in the background.

"He's Finn. He… don't worry too much about him. He likes to show off a little too much." She then pointed to the pair of girls that looked as if they mirrored each other.

"And they are May and Mei. As you can probably tell, they're twins. They like to work in synchronization. It… doesn't always work and they'll have to break it off, but when they do, their teamwork is almost perfect." The two girls waved. Matt stood up and stretched.

"Ok. I'm good now. Let's do this." Taylor shook Sophie's hand.

"May the best team win!"

"Agreed."

We took the right side of the court while Team Sophie to the left. The umpire collected the ball and got ready to start. He announced that we would be playing a best of three game. Matt leant down to Brionne and spoke to her.

"Ok. We're going to be bouncing a ball around in the air. When the ball comes over here…" he gestured around her. "…Hit it over the net. The ball is going to be heavier than a bubble, just keep that in mind." Brionne nodded with determination. Matt grinned and put a hand up.

"Awesome! Let's win this then!" Brionne gave a cry of excitement and the two high-fived (Well, in Brionne's case, high flippered.). I smiled at the interaction. I heard Sophie comment.

"That's cute." Matt stood up and laughed.

"I know right?" The umpire passed the ball to Finn who readied the ball. Taylor moved into her volleyball stance.

"Let's do this!" Finn nodded and on the umpire's signal, served the ball over to our side. It flew threw the air towards Taylor.

"Got it!" She bounced it back over and it sailed through the air towards Mei.

"Mine!" She moved forward and hit it toward our side. I took notice that even though May didn't hit it, she still mimicked Mei. The ball flew toward the back end of the court, where Brionne was waiting. Brionne watched it come toward her before using her nose to bounce it up. It wasn't going to make it, so I jumped in. I intercepted it's fall and sent it flying onto the air. It fell over the net and headed straight to Sophie. She grinned.

"I've got it!" With a powerful hit underneath it, it sailed over the net and fell toward Matt. He didn't seem ready though.

"Uh oh. Uhhh…" Luckily he managed to hit it. Up it went again before coming down to Finn. His eye's twinkled and he bashed the shit out of it. It went flying higher than any of us had hit it. As a matter of fact, it was still going up. I gawked at the sheer power that must have gone into that hit. Sophie turned to Finn.

"Seriously? You do realise that's going to land _WAY_ out of their square." Finn's face fell.

"Oops." Was all he muttered. Sure enough, it landed a few hundred feet away from us. The umpire shrugged it off, clearly seen how powerful he was before.

"Three points to Team Taylor." Finn went wide eyed.

"THREE?"

"I've told you before, if you keep doing that, I'm going to give them extra points." Finn sulked in frustration. We on the other hand, were stoked.

"Good job people! Let's keep this up!"

As we played, the sun began to fall into the horizon. Unfortunately, we lost the first game. But by the middle of the second, we discovered that Brionne could give us power-ups to a degree with her water. We used this to our advantage and we won one the second game. We also discovered that Matt was good at spiking the ball onto their side. By about four-fifty-nine, we were midway through our final game. We were on thirteen points with Sophie's team on fourteen. Taylor called us into a huddle.

"We need to win this! We may be two points away from winning, but they've got one. If we can get two points in a row…"

"We win. Yeah, I'm pretty sure we can all do math." Taylor looked at Matt with a glare.

"Don't get snarky at me mister. We can win this!" I grinned.

"What if we get Finn to smack it again?" Taylor began to bounce with excitement.

"Yeah! Let's do that. But how?" Brionne seemed to have an idea because she was bouncing up and down too. Matt looked to her.

"You've got an idea?" Brionne made gestures and noises that I couldn't understand. I looked to Matt.

"Got any idea what she's saying?" Matt gave a sly grin.

"She may have an idea." He explained the plan and Taylor laughed.

"I like it! Not sure if it's considered cheating, but if we can use power-ups, I'm sure it'll be alright."

"You guys ready?" We heard Sophie call out. We got into position and got ready.

The plan was simple. Encase the ball in a bubble when Brionne got it and make it go full moon physics. Once it would reach Finn, he would (Hopefully!) try to smack it again. when he did, Brionne would pop the bubble, thus sending it flying again.

I'm happy to say it worked. Finn was clearly frustrated at the slow-moving ball and went to hit it full force. Sophie must have realized what we'd done at the last second but was too slow to warn him. The bubble popped, and the ball was out of the park! The umpire sighed.

"Again? Sorry guys but I'm giving the last two points to Team Taylor." Finn's face basically shattered at the news. Sophie just shook her head, amused that our plan worked. May and Mei slumped to the ground while we celebrated.

"Yeah! Great job!" Taylor grabbed me and Matt and pulled us into a big hug. She even gave us both a quick smooch, much to Matt's embarrassment. Once she let us go she went over to Brionne and picked her up.

"And you… You deserve several smooches you brilliant seal!" Taylor gave her several kisses, embarrassing her dearly. But that was about when "it" happened.

Brionne began to glow. It was an almost blinding light that I had to shield my eyes from. Brionne began to change shape and after a moment, was about the same height as I was. The light eventually faded and what stood there wasn't what I was expecting.

It was a large white seal that had a blue mermaid like tail. She had beautiful blue eyes with two pink starfishes on the sides of her head. Behind her head, was a large amount of sky blue hair with two pearl hair ties. She still had a pink bubble nose at the end of her snout. I was mesmerized at the beautiful seal. Taylor seemed to be caught off guard while Matt…

"You can evolve still, even though we're not in the Pokémon World anymore? I would have thought…" Taylor recollected herself and gushed at her.

"A Primarina! That's so cool. You evolved for me?" Primarina seemed to be surprised herself but got over it pretty quickly. She just wanted to test out her new power. Sophie came over to us.

""You managed to win against us. You guys are incredible! Congrats on your seal changing by the way." She grinned to Taylor.

"Have you thought abought joining a team? We could use a team like you here at Harwick." She gestured to her team behind her. Taylor thought for a moment before shaking her head.

"Sorry, but we're only visiting the island. We're not living here." Sophie's face fell for a moment before nodding knowingly.

"Ah well. You're really good." She smiled. "If you want to come back and play some time, we'll be happy to have a rematch." She put her hand out. Taylor took it and shook it.

"Good to know. I might take you up on that one day." I smiled, knowing that Taylor had made a good friend with Sophie. I turned to Matt to see how he was doing…

Only to find May and Mei plastered up to him.

"You're really good."

"Why don't you join us?"

"We'll take good care of you." The said at the same time. Matt gulped visibly nervous.

"Uhhh… Well… I… already…" The girls didn't let him finish.

"Come with us."

"We'll show you to a good time." Matt was sweating. I decided that now was a good time to interrupt them.

"Ahem." May and Mei jumped back from Matt when they realized that I was watching them. They blushed.

"Hi."

"How can we help you?" I walked past them and grabbed Matt by the arm. Even though he still seemed uncomfortable, I felt his arm relax against my chest. The girls froze.

"Sorry to interrupt, but this guy's taken." I said smugly. May and Mei frowned before backing off. Matt breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thanks."

"Any time." Taylor walked up to us with Primarina hobbling along behind her.

"Well that was fun. But we really need to get to the station. Tat and Sam are probably-"

"Heeeeey!" We turned toward the voice to see Daisy roll by on the tracks. Leaning from a window, was Tat. Taylor's eye's bulged and she wrenched her phone out of her bag. Sure enough, the time was five-fifteen. We'd played for fifteen minutes over and now, we'd missed the train. Tat waved to us as Daisy rolled around the bend. Taylor slumped over.

"I forgot the time. The next train isn't due for another hour." Matt sighed.

"There's got to be something we can do…" It was then that we heard a familiar whistle. One Matt and I knew well. We looked to each other.

"Ryan!" Sure enough, the purple tank engine came out of the station with a small line of trucks. I bolted to the tracks, without waiting for the others. I scrambled up the bank and up to the edge of the tracks where I waved him down. Ryan saw me and came to a stop.

"Amber! I didn't know you were back. When did you get here?" I sighed with relief.

"I got here two days ago. Anyway, my friends and I missed Daisy just now and I was wondering if you could take us to Knapford." Ryan whistled happily.

"Sure. I'm just so happen to be heading that way so I can give you a lift."

"Gee, how convenient." Matt muttered as we got on.

"And with any luck, we might be able to catch up to Daisy." He whistled again and pulled off. Taylor gave a sigh of relief as well.

"And here I was, worrying that we'd be stuck here for the night." She looked out the cab window to see Sophie waving to us. She waved back as we rounded the bend. It was only a moment before Taylor looked around and began to panic.

"Oh no! We left…"

"Nope. She's here." Matt held up a red and white ball in his hand. Taylor stared at it.

"Oh… right. Now I feel silly that I forgot about those. Can I have a look at it?"

…

The trip was uneventful, getting to Knaford station not long after Daisy had arrived. Edward was waiting at our platform though. After a quick thanks to Ryan, we rushed over to the platform. The Guard was getting ready to blow his whistle when we raced passed him. He sighed.

"Be quick. We're leaving now." Matt and Taylor jumped on with me bringing up the rear. I was about to jump on when something caught my eye. I turned to see what it was.

Which was how I missed the train. Edward started off and by the time I realised what had happened, he was halfway through Knapford Junction. I was left there on the platform, in my swimsuit with an astonished look on my face.

"Wait." I knew it would be no use shouting out so it came out as a whisper. I sighed and turned to find the timetable. It wasn't long before I discovered that the next train wouldn't be for another forty minutes. I groaned in frustration. I knew there was nothing I could do. So I went and sat on a bench and tried to ignore the drop in temperature as the sun fell below the trees.

I think I was there for a good fifteen when I heard singing. The sun had completely gone down and I was freezing my butt off. At first I thought I was hallucinating but that changed when I saw a familiar blue and a brightly coloured tank engine roll in. they stopped at the platform and laughed.

"Are you any good at shunting Thomas?"

"Of course. I'm the best shunter on the island." He boasted. The other engine laughed.

"Then you should join the shunting challenge. That's where the best shunters compete. You might even have the chance to win!"

"Really? That sounds…" he looked toward the sign that was sitting next to me. He paused when he spotted me though.

"Amber? What are you doing here? And why are you in a swimsuit?" I chuckled weakly.

"We went to the beach today. We missed the train back, so Ryan dropped us off here and I then managed to miss the train standing right in front of me. It was stupid really." I shivered. Thomas peeped loudly.

"I'll take you back to Brendam you want. I'm sure your friends are worried sick." I jumped into his cab and began to warm myself up from his fire.

"Thanks. It's better than sitting here by a long shot." Thomas looked to the other engine.

"Amber. This is Ashima. Ashima. This is my friend Amber."

"Hello."

"Hi. I'm sure I'll get to know you later but I _really_ need to go home. I'll most likely see you at the show."

"Oh yes. I'll see you then." She looked to Thomas.

"Goodbye Thomas. I'll see you tomorrow." Thomas peeped in reply and backed out of the station. Annie and Clarabel called out after us.

"Good night Thomas!"

As we headed down the main line, I noticed all the splatters of paint all over Thomas. I already knew the answer but I asked anyway.

"What happened to you?"

"Uhhh… I was in an accident. I got covered in paint."

"Are you sure you weren't trying another stunt to get into the show?"

"Pftt. No. Maybe… Yes…"

…

I walked in the door to the apartment around seven. Thomas had dropped me off at the usual pace and I'd walked up. When I walked in, Taylor was pacing around the room, Matt was struggling to brush Primarina's hair and surprisingly, Tat cuddling Sam on the couch. Everyone turned to me and Taylor raced up to me and threw me into a hug.

"Amber! I was so worried! How'd you get back?" I sighed with content at the warmth from her.

"I have friends that can take me around the island Taylor. It was only a matter of time before someone showed up to rescue me."

"Told you she'd be fine." Taylor glared at Matt who shrugged.

"An' in other news, Sammy and ah are an item now." I pulled myself out from Taylor's bear hug and looked to Tat.

"What? When?"

"I may or may not have said something on the Ferris wheel." Tat grinned.

"After ah lil' bit of skimming the ice."

"I got to the point didn't I?"

"He confessed to me and told me how long he's been admirin' me from the shadows…" she smugly planted a kiss on his cheek, catching him off guard and flared his face up.

"Hey!"

"An' now, he's goin' to have to deal with all mah seductiveness." I laughed at Sam.

"I warned you." Tat smirked before pulling the end of a necklace out from her cleavage.

"Have ah look at the fancy necklace he got me!" It was a small gold heart that shimmered in the artificial light. Sam looked away, embarrassed. I shrugged. I'd told him what he was going to have to deal with when dating Tat, and he went with it. I had a feeling he was going to enjoy it though, embarrassing or not.

 **27 pages! Holy cow! I originally thought this was going to be the shorter one of the eight. I guess not?**

 **What did you think? I liked it, because it's really long. I think, this is the longest chapters I've done thus far, and I'm impressed. I mean, really!**

 **That aside, who's seen the next movie trailer? Big World, big adventures. I think it looks cool. But I guess the only way to find out if it IS good is to go see it. Right? Anyway, see you next chapter!**

 **Next: Protector of Sodor.**

 **PS: if you want to know what caught Amber's eye, read the final chapter!**


	6. Protector of Sodor

Chapter 6: Protector of Sodor

 **Really sorry! I've kinda been in a slump of sorts. Every time I went to write, a million other ideas swirled around in my head. I didn't get to do it very many times. But I typed this chapter in short bursts though. I'm just happy I managed to finish this thing.**

 **Oh and, please excuse Donald and Douglas' terrible accents. Just trust me.**

" _For a small Ferris Wheel, it sure goes up high..."_

 _Tat and Sam were sitting in one of the Ferris Wheel compartments. They were almost at the top, but they could see a whole lot around them. Tat looked to Sam._

" _Ya not afraid of heights, are ya?" Sam shook his head._

" _What? No… that's crazy..."_

" _Ya totally are! Ah can see it in ya eyes!" Sam looked away, clearly embarrassed._

" _OK... Maybe a little..." Tat grinned victoriously._

" _Why'd ya wanna come up here then? Ferris Wheels are known for goin' high up in the air." Sam sighed as Tat went to looking out the window again._

" _Hey Tat."_

" _Yeah?" She responded without looking from the window._

" _Well... you see… Uh..." Tat looked back to him, making him blush and begin to mumble._

" _Uh… well… I..." Tat was growing impatient._

" _Well? Spit it out."_

" _I like you." Sam blurted out. Tat froze, clearly taken off guard._

" _What?"_

" _I… said I like you." Tat's brain seemed to be processing the information._

" _...Really? For how long?"_

" _Well, it's been a while. I think it was soon after our first meeting." He blushed. "Remember when I crashed into you in the hallway at school?" Tat nodded slowly._

" _Well, it was round about then. That's one of the reasons I've been sticking around you and Amber. And it kinda… well… pained me when you flirted with other people." Tat seemed to begin to realise the magnitude of his words._

" _Sam… Ah had… No idea..."_

" _Yeah, I guessed that. That's why I bought you this." He pulled out the box from earlier and handed it to Tat. She took it and after a moment, opened it. Inside, was a gold heart necklace. Tat stared at it._

" _Whoa. This must've cost a fortune." She looked back to Sam. "Please tell me ya didn't spend a whole mountain of cash on this…" Sam nodded._

" _It took all the money I brought with me." Tat began to tear up._

" _Oh Sam." Tat reached over and pulled Sam into a hug. What surprised Sam was that it wasn't one of her face-to-boobs hugs but an actual genuine hug. Sam smiled at her sincerity._

 _And then promptly remembered that she was still in her bikini. Tat broke the hug and looked at Sam's blushed face._

" _Ok. From this moment on, you and ah are boyfriend an' girlfriend. Got that?" Sam stuttered._

" _What?"_

" _Well, ya did go to the effort to confess, so ya shouldn't let all of it go down the drain." Sam nodded._

" _Sure."_

" _Now, to seal the deal…"_

 _Tat leaned forward and planted a kiss on Sam's cheek. Sam stuttered again. Tat gave him a smug grin._

" _An' when ya work up the courage, ah expect a kiss on the lips, kay?" Sam continued to stutter as Tat stood up._

" _Now, unless ya wanna go round the wheel again, I suggest we hop off." Sam regained his senses and nodded shyly._

" _Right. Good idea." Once off, Tat grabbed his hand and the two headed further into the amusement park._

…

At least, that's how I was told how it happened. I'm sure Tat would have her own version to tell that involved some sort of skin contact, but I prefer Sam's version.

After a very welcoming hot shower after my mishap at Knapford, I made my way into my bedroom. Matt was sitting on the bed reading a book while Primarina was curled up on a few pillows on the floor. Ever since she evolved, as Matt and Taylor called it, she was a little bit too big to sleep at our feet on the bed, so Matt made a makeshift bed for her. I gave a sigh as I flopped down on the bed next to Matt. He paused his reading to look at me. He smiled at my pyjama selection.

"Love the pink shirt."

"Shut up. It's hard being D-cup size."

"D-cup huh? I thought…"

"Put a sock in it." Matt laughed at me before reaching over to his bedside table. He grabbed something off it and brought it back around to me. A quick toss and I caught it in my hands.

"Forgot to give you this earlier. It's not quite an amber necklace, but I think it'll do the job." I unwrapped the small parcel to reveal a small red, flame like badge. It had a red circle on the bottom and a red cord that looped around. I glanced back to Matt.

"What is it?" Matt chuckled as he picked his book back up.

"It's the Heat Badge. One of my friends gave it to me before I came back here. I got it converted into a necklace back at Harwick. I thought you'd like it." I laughed.

"It's interesting, I'll give you that. Thanks." Matt smiled before going back to his book. After a moment of silence, I spoke up again.

"Matt."

"Yeah?"

"I'm scared." Matt immediately stopped reading and looked to me.

"What do you mean?" I sighed before hopping out of bed and over to my stuff. After a little searching, I found my camera and brought it back over to Matt. I showed him the picture of the mural.

"Do you remember when we found this?" Matt nodded.

"Yeah I do."

"Do you remember Lady pushing back a dark wave while we were there?" Matt thought for a moment before shaking his head.

"Now that you mention it…"

"Anyway, when we got here, we were approached by a young man who said that we'd put the island in danger." Matt tilted his head.

"How so?"

"He didn't go into any specifics, just saying that us being there is going to make the island crumble and collapses in on itself." Matt thought for what seemed like an eternity before looking back to me.

"Well. We're going to have to get answers from this guy then, aren't we?" He flashed a big grin. "Just leave him to me. For now, let's get some sleep. It's late and I'm tired. I'm sure you are too." I yawned in response. He chuckled before giving me a kiss on the cheek.

"Night." He pulled the doona over him and I did the same after placing my new necklace on my bedside table. We lay there for a moment before drifting off to sleep.

…

The next morning was a cold one. I woke up with my ears freezing off my head. I grumbled.

"Why does it have to be cold?" I noticed that the spot next to me in the bed was empty, so I guessed Matt was already up and about. Yawning loudly, I pulled myself out of bed and made my way over to my clothing collection.

The reason I don't like the cold, is because I find it really uncomfortable and I can't wear my normal clothes, like my midriff shirts or my sleeveless vest. I grabbed a normal plain black T-shirt, my warmest pants and put them on. It was when I was looking for my jumper when I realized something.

"Shit. How the hell did I forget to bring a jumper? Now I'm going to freeze my butt off."

Once dressed (Along with the new necklace.), I headed out into the kitchen area. Matt was sitting on the couch with Primarina sitting in front of him. He was struggling to brush her hair again.

"Come on! Why is this so freaking hard?" Primarina gave a yelp as he pulled a knot in her hair. I sighed.

"That's not how you do it." Matt looked up to me and smiled.

"Ok then. Can you show me how it's done? I have a feeling I'm going to have to brush her hair for her every morning now." I plonked myself down next to him and took the brush. Primarina moved over to sit in front of me as I got to work. It took a good half an hour for him to get it and by the time he did, everyone else was up and getting ready for the day. Tat laughed as she watched Matt finally got the hang of it.

"Wow. Ya really need to practice ya brushin' Matt. How would ya ever brush ah little girls hair if you can't even brush ya pet's hair?" Matt sighed.

"Well unlike you girls, I don't have long hair **to** brush. And why would I ever need to brush a little girl's hair?" Tat winked.

"I have ah feelin' that ya kid's goin' to be ah girl. Just sayin'." Matt rolled his eyes.

"Yeah? Well I reckon you and Sam will have twins."

"Please don't give her any ideas." Was all Sam said from his seat at the bench. I chuckled at that.

Taylor was last to come out of her bedroom. She had a camera around her neck and a very summer-y outfit along with a pair of sunglasses on her head.

"Alright! Who's ready to explore a castle?" I stared at Taylor with a "seriously?" look. She tilted her head.

"What?"

"You do realise that it's freezing out there? You'll freeze to death out there." Taylor looked out the window at the downcast weather. She huffed.

"Why'd it have to be cold on my day?" She disappeared back into her room to change. Matt leaned over to me.

"What about you? You're just in a T-shirt."

"I forgot to bring a jumper."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah seriously." Matt chuckled.

"Here." He reached next to him and grabbed a green and black jumper. He tossed it to me and it wrapped around my head. I pulled it off me and gave him a confused look.

"One, what about you, and two, where'd you get this? You said yesterday that you'd lost your bag." Matt shrugged.

"I'll be fine. I bought it at the hotel shop last night. They were closing up and I snuck in at the last second." I smiled before slipping it on. I grunted a little as I pulled it down.

"It's a little tight."

"That's because I don't have boobs. This is made for a male you know." I shrugged.

"Thanks."

"Anytime."

"One more thing. What's with you and the green and black colour scheme now?"

"I don't know. I just came to like the combo when I was away."

Taylor came back out of her room, all rugged up. She chuckled.

"Alright! Now we're ready."

"What about breakfast?"

"We're eating out in Brendam. Let's go!"

…

After grabbing our shoes from the front door (I decided to change from my basketball shoes to a pair of black and orange snow boots. Why I have snow boots, even I don't know! **(Similar to the Hero Snow Boots from Splatoon 2)** ), we headed downstairs to the lobby. Once outside the hotel, Matt realised how wrong he was about gritting and bearing it, so we made a quick trip back inside to the hotel shop so he could buy a new one, we headed out to find somewhere to eat. I directed them to the little pancake shop that I'd fallen in love with when I first got here and they too fell in love with them. It seemed as if the weather was going to stay cold and windy all day, so we decided to try and stay indoors as much as possible when we got to Callan Castle.

We were almost at the station, when there was a loud crash from the docks. I raised an eyebrow.

"What was that?" Matt shrugged.

"One way to find out." We changed paths and walked to the docks with Primarina following behind.

…

"No, it was nae ma fault. It was yours Dougy."

"It twas an' you know it!"

"Wasn't!"

"Twas."

"Wasn't!"

"Alright, calm down!" We arrived to find two black tender engines numbered 9 and 10, arguing over a broken crate next to them. The Dock Manager was trying to calm them down.

"It's no big deal. There's plenty of boxes here that we can use to put the cargo in. One broken box isn't going to kill anyone.

"But it twas Dougy's fault that it broke. He did nae look where he was goin'."

"Donnie, I swear…"

"Enough! For crying out loud, it's just a box."

Donald and Douglas just glared at each other for a moment before sighing.

"Ah suppose we may have overreacted."

"Yer right. Sorry."

"Great. Now can you get out of the way so I can do my job?" Carly glared at him.

"Cranky!"

"What?" Taylor chuckled.

"It seems like the docks is lively this morning." The Dock Manager walked over to us, shaking his head.

"Those two can be a real pain in the butt sometimes."

"What exactly happened?"

"They were arguing about who was going to be at the front of the train and they knocked over an empty box. Then they started arguing about that." I shrugged.

"Siblings. That's what they do."

"Not all the time." I looked to Matt with curiosity.

"What do you know about siblings?" He chuckled weakly.

"I've got a brother back home. Gosh they must be really worried by now…" I gave him a pat on the shoulder.

"As soon as we're done here and you've seen where I live, Taylor and I will put you on the first plane back to Australia." He sighed.

"Thanks." He was drowned out by the twins blowing their whistles.

"Callan Castle, here we come."

"Aye to that Donnie!" Taylor heard this and she threw herself in front of the twins before they started moving.

"WAIT!" Donald raised an eyebrow.

"But we haven't moved yet."

"We were aboot to though…" Taylor looked up to Donald.

"Can you take us with you? We're heading there too." Douglas scoffed.

"Not to be rude lady, but we are runnin' a goods train. We can nae take passengers." Taylor gave a sly smirk.

"Not even to take the famous Amber?" She gestured to me as I sweat-dropped. Using me as leverage? Come on.

It seemed to work though.

"Is it her?"

"It certainly looks like what Thomas has said she looks like."

"We'd be happy ta take you!" Taylor gave a victorious smile.

"Easy." I rolled my eyes.

…

The ride was uneventful (Aside from getting Primarina into Donald's cab at the start.) as we headed to Callan Castle. We passed the showgrounds at Killdane though. The place looked amazing. From the outskirts that is. We didn't actually go through it. Donald and Douglas charged up the Peel Godred branch line and took the left track just after Kirk Machan station. I waved to Culdee as we passed his railway, but I don't think he saw me. We passed Callan station and Cyril the Fog-man's house and rolled into Misty Valley. True to its name, it was misty and the twins had to slow down. Soon after passing through we reached the place that Donald and Douglas had gotten stuck and mistaken Harvey for the Loch Ness Monster one time and crossed the causeway. I heard Taylor gasp as the castle came into view.

Callen Castle wasn't the biggest on Sodor, but it was still quite large compared to some of the engines. It sat up on a hill with a private platform down the bottom. Donald and Douglas rolled to a stop at the platform. Douglas peeped his whistle as we got out.

"Enjoy yourselves."

"Ya will have lots of fun!" The two then continued down the line with their train. Tat gave a low whistle.

"This ain't half bad. Ah was expecting an old ruin, but ah guess not." I looked to Tat.

"Lord Callan has had this place open for a while. It's open to the public to explore."

"Which is something we should be doing! Come on!" Taylor started walking up the hill closely followed by the rest of us.

At the large doors, a butler that strangely looked like Alfred from _Batman_ , stood there with a bored look on his face. He'd clearly been doing his job for some time and was clearly sick of it. Anyway, he stopped us at the door.

"I'm terribly sorry sir, but pets are not allowed in or on the castle grounds. We like to keep the grounds clean, if you please." He spoke almost robotically. Matt chuckled nervously.

"Oh. Sorry. My bad." With a swift movement, he pulled Primarina's Poké Ball out of his jumper pocket. Primarina nodded knowingly as she was sucked into the ball. "Alfred" was clearly surprised, as his bored expression turned into a look of shock.

"What? How…?" Matt chuckled.

"You wouldn't get it even if I explained it."

"But isn't that animal cruelty?"

"No, no. She's fine. See?" he showed him the ball and through the red half, you could vaguely see Primarina waving. "Alfred" sighed.

"Very well. But she must remain in there while you're here. If anyone here catches you with any sorts of pets, you will be asked to leave." Matt nodded.

"Understood." The butler sighed and went back to staring out into space. Sam chuckled.

"Oh well. I'm sure she can watch from the ball."

"That aside, let's check out the castle!"

We explored the castle for most of the morning. The lore of Callan Castle wasn't as interesting as Ulfstead's, but it was still interesting to a degree. To me and Taylor that is. Tat and Sam seemed to be bored out of their brains while Matt seemed to be taking a slight interest. Amongst looking at the different artifacts and souvenirs that Lord Callan had collected over the course of the years, we also got the chance to talk to Lord Callan himself. It was interesting listening to his various stories and maybe a few tall ones and by eleven, we were sitting at a table by a window. Taylor was going on about her discoveries.

"It's amazing how he fought a dragon! I wish I could fight one." Sam yawned.

"I'm pretty sure that was one of his tall tales. We have no proof that dragons are real." Matt grinned.

"I know that there are Dragon type Pokémon out there. Just not here."

"Yeah and screw you for seeing them before me." Taylor interrupted.

"What do you mean? Goomy's a dragon type."

"I was more expecting something more like Charizard or Garchomp."

I rolled my eyes at their banter before there was a loud bang. Sam and Tat fell out of their chairs and Taylor ducked under the table. I on the other hand (Realising how familiar it sounded.) jumped up and went to the window. I looked out and after a moment, spotted the purple and black smog rising from the small forest on the grounds. Matt joined me at the window.

"What the hell was that?" I pointed to the smog.

"Another fissure."

"A fissure? I don't recall fissures making loud bangs." I heard Tat chuckle to herself before rolling my eyes.

"I'll explain on the way. I want to see if I was right."

We headed out into the cold and made our way to where the smog was rising from. After a little bit of losing our way, we made it to the fissure.

Only to find we weren't the first there.

Standing in front of the fissure, was a familiar man with brown hair tied into a small ponytail. He had his back turned to us, but I instantly recognised the golden staff in his right hand. If it hadn't been for that, I would have had a hard time recognising him. He now wore a black and red zip up jacket with grey tracksuit pants. He still had his sneakers though. He'd obviously rugged up for the cold weather too.

Anyway he raised his staff up above his head. He grabbed it with both hands before bringing the butt of the staff down swiftly. There was a bright flash as it connected with the fissure. After a moment and the light had died down, the fissure was no more than a faint glow of purple on the ground. He wiped his brow and sighed.

"Good. Another one closed." He turned around and froze when he saw us. I gave him a solid look.

"Victor." Through his colourful mask, I saw his eyes flicker.

"Well, well, well. I thought I told you lot to leave this place." Matt leaned over and whispered in my ear.

"Is this the guy you were telling me about?" I nodded as Victor continued.

"But instead of leaving, you bring someone else here. If I may recall, you were here when she was four months ago. Uh… Matt wasn't it?"

"Why? Who wants to know?" Victor laughed a calm but strangely sinister laugh.

"You shouldn't have come back. The island is breaking apart as we speak. It started when you two first showed up." Matt snorted.

"I'm having a hard time believing you. What are the signs of Sodor falling in on itself?" Matt was now standing right in front of Victor. Even though he was younger than him, he was a hair taller than him. Victor seemed to bristle at this before pointing to the faint purple glow of the now closed fissure.

"There's your proof. These have been popping up all over the place and I've had to go around cleaning up your mess." He sighed. "Too bad it ends here!" Victor twirled around Matt and charged toward me, staff poised to strike my head. I had no time to do anything. The staff was almost at my head when Victor faltered at a glimpse of Taylor, who was peeking out from behind a tree with Tat and Sam. That apparently gave Matt enough time to call out Primarina order her to blast him away from me. Victor was blown off his feet by a torrent of water and into a nearby tree. Matt rushed to my side as Victor sat there stunned.

"What the hell was that for?" Victor coughed before looking toward us.

"It seems I had hesitation. This time I won't..."

"Bullshit! You saw Taylor and you faltered. I saw it!" I screamed at him. He looked away with a blush.

"That may or may not have been the reason..." he stood up and glared to me.

"Count yourself lucky. I would have..." he was interrupted by the shouts of people coming toward us. He grunted.

"Tch. Next time! I'm out!" Victor quickly disappeared into the trees (After a little bit of struggling as his jacket was hooked on the tree.) as some of the castle staff appeared. I sighed with relief, happy that Taylor had been there. If not…

"Hey! What did I tell you about your pet?" Matt seemed to jump when "Alfred" came up behind him. Matt quickly whipped out her Poké Ball and returned her. He chuckled nervously.

"Well you see…" The butler gave him a withering look.

"Save me the excuses. Next time, I won't let you off so easily." Matt nodded quickly and after the staff poked around the area for a little bit, they disappeared back into the trees toward the castle. Matt gave a huge sigh.

"That was close. Way too close." He turned to me. "Who does he think he is, trying to hit you like that?" I was still in a state of shock. Tat gave me a reassuring pat.

"Ah'm sure he didn't mean it. He was probably tryin' to knock ya over." I sighed.

"One would hope so." Sam, who was inspecting the area, spoke up.

"Looks like he left something behind." We looked to him over near the tree that Victor had slammed into. Sure enough, Sam was holding a shredded piece of cloth that was obviously from Victor's jacket. Tat laughed and gave Sam a slap on the back.

"Good eye Sammy! But how is that goin' to help us?" Sam winced at her "pat" on the back.

"I don't know. I just found it." Matt took the cloth from Sam and studied it.

"Not too dirty. It could be used." He mumbled. I raised an eyebrow.

"What are you up to?" Matt ignored me for a moment before looking around.

"Alfred" isn't around is he?"

"No…"

"Cool. Stand back." We did as we were told and Matt took one more glance around before pulling out a Poké Ball. Taylor raised an eyebrow as well.

"How's Primarina going to help?"

"She isn't. Just be prepared for a little over protectiveness." A quick toss and the Poké Ball burst open. After the bright light, an orange wolf like Pokémon with a white mane appeared. He had a white tail and white paws with black claws. His eyes were green and its mane spiked up in a curved fashion. It looked around before his eyes fell on us. It gave a growl before jumping in front of Matt with a defensive stance, his eyes turning red. Tat squealed and jumped into Sam's unprepared hands, in turn knocking them both over. Taylor had sparkles in her eyes while I gave it a curious look. Matt quickly patted the Pokémon.

"Dusk! Their friends. You don't need to protect me." Dusk looked to Matt before licking his face. I noted that his eyes changed back to green when he was calm. Taylor inched her way over to Dusk.

"You have a Dusk Lycanroc? For how long?" She said quietly, as to not frighten the wolf Pokémon. Matt looked away.

"A while now." Taylor frowned.

"Then why have you only brought him out now?"

"I was worried what he'd do. He's always been a bit over protective since I saved it as a Rockruff. Besides, he likes it in his Poké Ball." Taylor sighed before reaching out slowly to pat him. Dusk saw this and sniffed her hand curiously. Taylor grinned as her hand came into contact with Dusk's soft mane. After a moment of uneasiness, Taylor finally began to pat him. Dusk seemed to like the attention, going as far as pushing himself up to her. I grinned at the scene while Matt just chuckled. Sam cleared his throat, Tat still on top of him.

"One, get off me." Tat smirked seductively.

"Ya know ya like it…"

"…And two, a potential killer is getting away." Matt nodded.

"Right. Sorry Taylor. You can get to know him later." Matt lifted the cloth up to Dusk.

"I need you to track this guy down. He tried to hit my girlfriend." Dusk looked to him and then looked to me. After a brief moment, he turned back to Matt and gave him a smug look. Matt rolled his eyes.

"Save it for later Mister. Give us a hand here." Dusk stuck his tongue out before sniffing the cloth. He sniffed the air and the ground before barking. Matt stood up.

"Alright. Lead the way."

…

"Of course I'd have to go and hesitate like that. Here I was, thinking I'd get the job done, but nooo… They just had to bring that beauty along. Now that I think about it, why wouldn't she? Gah, this is so frustrating."

Victor was making his way through the trees toward the tracks. He was planning on hitch-hiking out of here, but he found himself lost after a moment.

"Great. Now I'm lost. I don't even think I'm on the castle grounds anymore." He sighed before jumping at a sudden rustle in the bush near him.

"Whatzat? Who's there?" He jumped into a defensive stance and stared at the bush. After a moment, an orange wolf jumped out and looked at him curiously. He raised an eyebrow.

"A wolf? That's… not what I was expecting… Wait… Why is there a wolf here?" The wolf stared him in the eyes for what seemed like an eternity before blinking. Victor realised that he was in trouble when they were red when they opened again.

"…Then again… when are wolves orange?"

With a howl, large rock pillars sprouted out of the ground around him, pinning him to the spot. Victor grimaced.

"Or have the power to summon rocks?" The wolf smirked before Matt and I appeared from the bushes, closely followed by Taylor, Sam and Tat. Matt sighed.

"Nowhere to go now huh? What're you going to do now?"

"That's cheating. Having a seal that can shoot water and a wolf that can summon rocks."

"It's not cheating. Their just Pokémon."

"…now that you mention it…"

"That's beside the point!" I half screamed. Matt chuckled before stepping back. I walked over to the rock encased Victor and stopped in front of him. He gulped.

"You're going to slap me aren't…" He was interrupted by the punch to the face I gave him. He shook his head. "Ok. Wasn't expecting that."

"Are you done?"

"I guess." I groaned at his comedic way of talking.

"Now. I'm going to hope you were going to just knock me down back there and not going to kill me." He opened his mouth to speak but I cut him off.

"Choose your next answer wisely. What you say next will affect how I treat you." Victor shut his mouth and nodded.

"Yes ma'am."

"Well?"

"Right. I **WAS** thinking about it, but I figured I'd just knock you all out and put you back through the way you came in. I wasn't sure how you got in, but I was going to cross that bridge when I got to it." I stared at him for a moment before sighing.

"As long as it doesn't happen again, I'm willing to let you go." Matt seemed to question me when I said that but I ignored him for the moment. "But for now, I want to know a little bit about you." Victor raised an eyebrow.

"Why would you want to know about me?"

"I just do. You seem like a decent person." Matt scoffed.

"You call trying to knock you out "decent?" I glared to him.

"Just roll with it." I turned back to Victor. "Everyone deserves a second chance." Victor sighed.

"Thanks." After a moment Victor cleared his throat.

"I don't suppose you could let me out?" I gave him a withering look.

"Story first, release after." Victor chuckled nervously.

"Fine, fine…" He sighed before he began his story.

" _I was born…"_

"Not that far back!"

"Right. Sorry. Uh… Ok."

…

" _I was originally a plain old fisherman that would go out and fish out in the ocean, not too far from where Sodor should have been…"_

"Should have been? What do you mean by that?" Victor groaned at my interruption.

"Let me tell my story, ok?"

"Sorry."

"As I was saying… _I would go and fish out near where the island would be. I was a single fisherman, going out to fish whenever I wanted to, not having to wait for pals or anything. I'd been doing it since I was little. About four years ago, I was twenty at the time, I went out like normal. However, a storm broke out and I had nowhere to go. I was caught up in the middle of it and it was only a matter of time before I fell off. As I did, I managed to give myself a nasty slash right across my eye."_

He gave his head a shake, and after a moment of shaking, he looked to me and grinned awkwardly.

"It would have been cooler if my mask had come off, wouldn't it?"

"Yep."

"Can you…?" I sighed and pulled his mask off his face, revealing a scar across his face. It started above his right eye and finished just near his left ear. Matt made an "Ooo" sound, while Taylor simply shrugged. I believe she said "It builds character," but I'm not sure. Victor cleared his throat, grabbing out attentions.

"Anyway, _I woke up on a beach. Apparently, I'd survived and washed up onto a nearby island. I quickly set to work, trying to find out where I was. It took me literally an hour to realise I was on the fictional island of Sodor."_

"Wait. You're from the real world!?" Victor rolled his eyes.

"Seriously? You wanted to know about me, yet you keep interrupting me. And yes. I am from the real world." Sam shrugged.

"This place seems pretty real to me…" Taylor elbowed him in the ribs as Victor chuckled.

"But I thought that Sodor only came into existence when Amber got the Gold Dust Cocoon." Matt raised the question. Victor struggled to shrug.

"Beats me. Now, can I finish my story **WITHOUT** any more interruptions?" I nodded as he sighed.

"Ok. _After a while of being homeless on the island, I decided to have a look around. When I was visiting the Culdee Fell Railway, I came across the shrine at the top of the mountain. Amongst the different things there, I discovered a hidden message on the mural, which at the time, I had no idea what it meant. But after an excruciating long time (Which in reality, was probably about a day or two.) I managed to crack it. After a fair bit of research that is."_

"What did it say?"

"Oh for crying out loud!"

"Sorry…"

"Honestly, I can't remember. It was a while ago. It said something along the lines of how the island was going to fall apart slowly before eventually, the dimension was going to collapse in on itself, thus, ending Sodor forever. However, there was a way to slow down the process, perhaps, even stop it entirely.

" _I, at the time, was scared out of my brains. An island that was going to be destroyed? I didn't want to be around for that. It was about then when I discovered that, despite there being a whole world outside of Sodor, I couldn't leave the island. There was some sort of invisible barrier blocking me from leaving."_

He paused, expecting one of us to interrupt. When we didn't, he groaned.

"When I don't want you to interrupted, you interrupt. When you…"

"Ok, I'll bite. Why couldn't you leave?"

"Beats me." We all fell over with disbelief. Victor laughed.

"But in all seriousness, I couldn't. I doubt you guys could either. It's almost as if the world revolves around this island." Matt sighed.

"That's probably true."

" _After realising I couldn't run from it, I decided to go back to the mural and investigate further. That time, was when I discovered the staff. It strangely had appeared on the pedestal in the centre of the shrine. When I took it, I got a brief vision of what could happen if I wasn't careful along with who I think was Lady telling me to close all the fissures when they opened. And that was my life for three years. I would move around the island, closing fissures whenever they opened. I ended up crashing at one of my Sudrion friends' places in Ulfstead. It was small, but it got the job done. Also, from what I've gathered, the fissures open because of the foreign "Invaders," so to speak. That being…"_

"Us."

"Yep. When you lot started appearing, more fissures opened and I had my work cut out for me. Lately, it's just been go, go, go. Fissure here, fissure there." Victor sighed. "And that basically brings us to here. Me trapped in a rock and you interrogating me."

…

I took this all in. It was amazing what he'd done. Even though Sodor wasn't his home, he was protecting it like it was. I gave him a huge smile.

"I'd say that's good enough for me. You can let him out now." Matt gave me a look of disgust.

"Are you sure? He did try to kill you." Victor quickly spoke up.

"Not once did I say I was trying to kill her. Don't jump to conclusions." Matt gave him a glare as I continued.

I'm willing to trust him. And besides…" I looked behind me and gave Taylor a cheeky smirk. "…I think Taylor wants to get to know him better." Taylor blushed.

"What? Noooo… You've got it all wrong…"

"You're face says otherwise."

"Maybe a little…" Matt rolled his eyes and flicked his hand to Lycanroc. He nodded and brought the rocks down. Victor sighed with relief and picked his mask back on. As he passed me, he gave me a nod.

"Try to stay out of trouble. I'll clean up the… Gakk!" without turning, I'd grabbed his hood.

"Did I say that I was going to let you go from here? I know you have work to do, but we "real worlders" need to stick together." Victor seemed to bristle at that.

"Actually, no. the more time we stick together in the one place, the more fissures will open. I wouldn't be surprised if the world collapsed in on itself any day now." I sighed.

"Fair enough. But at least stick around for the show. We'll probably leave once it's over anyway. That is the main reason we came here again."

"Although it seems BlueTornado3275 has forgotten that point."

"He hasn't. He's just taking forever to get to the point."

"Anyhoo, you're sticking with us until we go." Victor sighed.

"I don't get a say do I?" I shook my head and he sighed again. "Fine." I grinned.

"Welcome aboard Vic."

…

After a bit of bush bashing through the woods, we finally came across a track. Tat sighed.

"Now, just because we found ah track, doesn't mean there'll be ah train coming though anytime soon." Sam chuckled nervously.

"Hopefully that doesn't mean we'll be stuck out here." I glanced around and looked at everyone's worried faces. I stopped at Victor though, as he had a thoughtful look on his face.

"You seem to have a solution Vic. Care to share?" **(Hey! That rhymes!)** Victor shrugged.

"Don't know if it'll work though." Taylor shrugged.

"Anything is better than nothing." Victor grinned before clearing his throat.

"The Great Western way, is the wrong way."

"I'm sorry, what was that?" We all (Except Victor.) jumped at the new voice and turned to see Duck sitting there with a mean look on his face. Victor shrugged.

"Well whaddya know. It worked." Duck on the other hand, didn't seemed too pleased.

"Let me tell you that the Great Western way is **NOT** the wrong way." I just blinked at the exchange.

"How… How the hell…?" Duck chuckled.

"I know when someone's trash talking the Great Western Railway, so I came to put a stop to it."

"But how did you get here so quickly?"

"The power of story writing."

"Oookay…"

…

Ok, it didn't really happen like that. Duck and Oliver just so happened to be conveniently passing through with a goods train and was more than happy to give us a lift. However it wasn't all good news.

"Thomas' had an accident this morning."

"What? How?"

"He pulled this massive train that Diesel left in the yard and lost control of it. Crashed into Norman as he was exiting it." I cursed to myself forgetting about that. If I remember correctly, the "trucks" were actually Paxton, Den and Dart. I sighed as Taylor let out a chuckle.

"We'll meet you back at the hotel. You go and see your main engine." I smiled.

"I was going to. I don't need your permission." Taylor patted me on the back.

"Just be back before dark this time, yeah? I don't want to be worrying about you."

"No problem. I'll bring Matt with me this time."

"Wait, what? What am I doing now?"

Duck and Oliver let us off at Killdane Station, which was just outside the showgrounds. Taylor, Sam, Tat and Victor headed to the other platform while Matt and I caught a train to Crovan's Gate. From there, we made our way to the Steamworks. As we came to the entrance, I heard a particular loud booming voice.

"Victor! Can I go now? I've been here for days!"

"For the last time Gordon. Hold your horses. The workmen need to run a safety check on you." I heard Matt chuckle as we walked in. Sure enough, sitting on the Narrow Gauge side of the Steamworks, was a streamlined Gordon. He let out a huff and closed his eyes as the workmen began to swarm over him once more. Quietly, I made my way over to Gordon, waving silently to Victor, who knew exactly what I was doing when he saw me. I paused in front of the proud blue engine before sighing.

"If you don't pass the safety check, you might make your boiler burst." Gordon's eyes snapped open and looked right at me. I gave him a wave. "Hi!"

"Amber? What are you doing here?"

"Amber's here?" I looked back up and spotted Thomas hanging from the roof from the various cranes. I gave him a wave too. Gordon sighed.

"I guess that would be a bad thing. That would be humiliating."

"So stick around. We wouldn't want "The Shooting Star" to bang himself up before the big race." Gordon spluttered.

"How did you…"

"Good luck tomorrow Gordon!" I quickly made my way back over to Thomas as Gordon continued to splutter, clearly confused how I knew his streamlined name. Thomas already looked rather put out when I strode up.

"So, what happened?" Thomas let out a huff.

"There was something fishy about those trucks. Diesel just left them in the yard, in the way of everything I might add. I tried to move them, and they pushed me into Norman." Matt sighed.

"Well that's because…" I elbowed him in the ribs, causing him to stop.

"Probably just some really agitated trucks. You know how Diesel is." Matt coughed and gave me a glare.

"What was that for?" He hissed at me. I gave him a wink.

"He probably doesn't need to know what really happened. He'd be pretty upset if he knew." Matt rolled his eyes.

"Whatever."

"What are you two whispering about?"

"Nothing!" I chuckled before thinking.

"Now that I think about it, why haven't the diesels come after me again? Surely Diesel 10 would have sent someone after me by now." Thomas did the engine equivalent of a shrug.

"Beats me. Enjoy it while it lasts I'd say." I smiled to him.

"I wasn't worried too much." Matt cleared his throat.

"Sorry to be a downer, but we'd better get back to the hotel. It'll be dark soon and I don't want to be out here at night." Thomas perked up at that.

"Don't worry! I'll take you home."

"No you won't." Victor rolled up to us and gave Thomas a stern glare.

"Your buffer beam is busted Thomas. I can't let you go without fixing it." Thomas sighed.

"Can you fix it now then?"

"Unfortunately, no. We need to finish on Gordon before tomorrow. We probably won't get to fix you until tomorrow morning." Thomas' face fell.

"W-w-what! B-b-but the show is tomorrow! I need to get ready!"

"For what? As far as I know, you're not a represent-ee." Thomas sighed sadly.

"I… Never mind." I really didn't like seeing Thomas like this. I let out a sigh.

"How's this. I'll stop by tomorrow and we'll watch it on the TV. I'm sure there's one lying around here somewhere." Victor shrugged.

"I have no problems with that." Thomas smiled weakly.

"I guess. It's better than not seeing it at all." I gave him a pat on his twisted buffer.

"That's the spirit! I'll be here just before lunch. I believe that's when the Great Race is on." Thomas nodded.

"Yes. See you tomorrow Amber." With a wave good bye to Thomas, Victor and Gordon, Matt and I headed out of the Steamworks and back to the Crovan's Gate Station.

…

We were back at the hotel before you could say "Great Railway Show."

When we walked in, Taylor was setting Victor up on the couch for the night. The two waved to us.

"Hey! You're back."

"How's Thomas?"

"He's… Fine, but kinda disappointed that he can't go to the show." Victor shrugged.

"That's what he gets for running a red signal." Taylor rolled her eyes.

"And before you ask, Tat and Sam went down to the Supermarket. Sam found a barbeque on the roof when Tat pulled him up there for one of her "Quality Time with Tat" sessions. We're having a good ol' BBQ tonight!" Matt chuckled at her terrible attempt of an Australian accent and she huffed. "Oh, stuff a sock in it you."

Tat and Sam came back not long after us and as Taylor had said, we had a "Good Ol' Barbeque," with all the good stuff. Sausages, kebabs, chops and a surprisingly good potato salad from Victor. While today had been rather windy, it seemed to die down when we ate dinner. So much so, that we got a good look at the stars in the cloudless sky. Taylor went as far to shut off the lights on the roof to get a better look at them. It was a really good night before the show and I'm pretty sure I saw Taylor leaning on Victor too.

Too bad the serenity didn't last.

 **Fudgin' hell! This took me forever to write! Really sorry for the wait, but hey. We've got two chapters to go now! Nearly done. Just stick around and I'll be done in no time! Hopefully not three months apart again…**

 **Sorry again. Read, review, Like, Subscribe, You know the deal. See you next chapter!**

 **Next: Let the Games Begin!**


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